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A contractor for the Pentagon has been charged with providing classified U.S. intelligence to a Lebanese national connected with terrorist group Hezbollah, the Justice Department announced on Wednesday. The department alleges Mariam Taha Thompson, 61, began transmitting the classified intelligence around December 30, when Iraqi militiamen stormed the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. Thompson is a linguist who at the time was working at a U.S. special forces base in Erbil in northern Iraq. The classified “files contained classified national defense information including true names, personal identification data, background information, and photographs of the human sources, as well as operations cables...

President Donald Trump said Thursday that the U.S. at his direction has conducted a counter-terrorism operation in Yemen that killed Qassim al-Rimi, an al-Qaida leader who claimed responsibility for last year's deadly shooting at Naval Air Station Pensacola, where a Saudi aviation trainee killed three American sailors. Al-Rimi is a founder of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula. The affiliate has long been considered the global network’s most dangerous branch for its attempts to carry out attacks on the U.S. mainland. Trump said the U.S. and its allies are safer as a result of his death. “We will continue to protect...

Former national security adviser John Bolton is questioning whether the Trump administration "really means it" when the president and other officials promise to denuclearize North Korea. Speaking with Axios in an interview published Sunday, Bolton accused President Trump of bluffing on the vow to rid the hermit nation of nuclear weapons, saying the White House "would be pursuing a different course" if the pledge were true. "The idea that we are somehow exerting maximum pressure on North Korea is just unfortunately not true," he said, calling the Trump administration's assertion that the country cannot have nukes a "rhetorical policy." If...

Former DOJ official David Kris was picked Friday to oversee the FBI’s reforms of its surveillance procedures in the wake of a damning inspector general’s report. Kris was an ardent defender of the FBI’s surveillance of Carter Page. He was also a vocal critic of Republicans who suggested the FBI misled the surveillance court in its applications to wiretap Page. In one essay, Kris endorsed a suggestion that Rep. Devin Nunes should face obstruction of justice charges. Nunes told the Daily Caller News Foundation the choice of Kris is “shocking and inexplicable.” former Justice Department official picked Friday to oversee...

The Justice Department is recommending that former National Security adviser Michael Flynn be sentenced to up to six months in prison for lying to the FBI, telling a court that the former Trump adviser has been uncooperative in recent months. "The sentence should adequately deter the defendant from violating the law, and to promote respect for the law," the Justice Department wrote in a sentencing memo Tuesday. "It is clear that the defendant has not learned his lesson. He has behaved as though the law does not apply to him, and as if there are no consequences for his actions."...

Iranian militia leader Hadi al-Amiri, one of several identified as leading an attack on the U.S. embassy in Baghdad on Tuesday, reportedly visited the White House in 2011 during the presidency of Barack Obama. On Tuesday, a mob in Baghdad attacked the U.S. embassy in retaliation against last weekend’s U.S. airstrikes against the Iran-backed Shiite militia Kataib Hezbollah (KH), responsible for killing an American civilian contractor. KH is one of a number of pro-Iran militias that make up the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF/PMU), which legally became a wing of the Iraqi military after fighting the Sunni Islamic State terrorist group....

Somalia: Muslims murder at least 73 with car bomb during rush hour in Mogadishu DEC 28, 2019 12:00 PM BY ROBERT SPENCER 12 COMMENTS Another glimpse into the future of the West. “Somalia car bomb attack: At least 73 dead in blast during rush hour in Mogadishu,” AAP, December 28, 2019 (thanks to The Religion of Peace): A car bomb has exploded at a busy security checkpoint in Somalia’s capital, killing at least 73 people. It was one of the deadliest attacks in Mogadishu in recent memory, and witnesses said its force reminded them of the devastating 2017 bombing that...

Earlier this month, House Democrats sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, urging sanctions relief for Iran. Among other things, they criticized "the designation of Iran's Central Bank under terror authorities," arguing that "the efficacy of sanctions is questionable." An organization long described as a front group for the Iran regime sponsored the letter and has embedded staffers with many of the letter's supporters in Congress, including Reps. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.). “Is Iran’s regime quietly infiltrating Congress?” M. Hanif Jazayeri, news editor at Free Iran, asked on Twitter. He pointed out that...

* PM said he wanted to remember those unable to celebrate the festival publicly* He said his Government would 'stand in solidarity' with Christians everywhere* Outside Number 10, he said he wanted to wish everyone a 'merry little Christmas'* PM also praised NHS workers and civil servants working through the holidays* Jeremy Corbyn also delivered his last Christmas message as Labour party leader Boris Johnson has vowed to defend persecuted Christians around the world and their 'right to practise their faith'. In his first Christmas message as Prime Minister, Mr Johnson said he wanted to remember those who were unable...

This is a developing news story. Please check back for updates. MOSCOW — A deadly shooting erupted near the fortresslike headquarters of Russia’s Federal Security Service in central Moscow on Thursday evening, the security agency said in a statement that also reported several people had been wounded. Russian news reports said up to three people had been killed. “An unknown person opened fire near building #12 on the Bolshaya Lubyanka street,” the security service statement said, according to the Interfax news agency. “Some people were injured.” The statement also said that the assailant had been “neutralized” and was being identified....

Clips tagged #Swamp MUST WATCH: McConnell torches Pelosi on Senate floor, calls House impeachment "partisan rage"Speaking in the United States Senate Thursday morning, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell decried what he called the "partisan rage" behind Wednesday night's impeachment vote of U.S. President Donald Trump in the House of Representatives. … Graham: Constitutional crisis unfolding before our eyes, Dems openly refusing to send Articles to SenateConstitutional crisis unfolding before our eyes. Senior Democratic leaders are openly contemplating refusing to send Articles of Impeachment to the Senate for disposition. Trump Derangement Syndrome is reaching a new level! https://t.co/d0RJK6zwoK … House debate...

In a late Wednesday night, post-impeachment tweet completely devoid of all self-awareness, Washington Post congressional reporter Rachael Bade flaunted how she and four other journalists from the paper were celebrating President Trump’s impeachment. “Merry Impeachmas from the WaPo team! [Paul Kane] is buying ... w/[Karoun Demirjian] [Seung Min Kim] [Mike DeBonis],” she gleefully shared in the now-deleted tweet, along with a picture of them around a restaurant table with food and at least two beers. Interestingly, three of the five newspaper writers involved with the apparent celebration (Bade, Demirjian, and Kim) are also CNN political analysts. Rightly, the supposedly objective...

Immediately after impeaching President Donald Trump for allegedly obstructing the House and abusing his power as president, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi obstructed the Senate’s constitutional obligation to hold an impeachment trial and abused her power by trying to steal power that belongs solely to the Senate under the Constitution. Pelosi told reporters on Thursday that she is in no rush to formally transmit to the Senate the articles of impeachment her party in the House had just approved. Here are six reasons Pelosi’s impeachment obstruction stunt undermines the entire basis of the Democrats’ effort to eject Trump from office.1) After...

Florida police arrested a Chinese national on Wednesday after she allegedly trespassed and took photos at President Trump's Mar-a-Lago property. Jing Lu, 56, trespassed at the estate and was asked to leave by security, Michael Ogrodnick, a spokesman for the Palm Beach Police Department, said in a statement. "She returned and began to take photos, at which time the Palm Beach Police Department responded and took her into custody," Ogrodnick said, adding that authorities determined Lu's visa had expired. Lu invoked her right to an attorney and is being held in Palm Beach County Jail for loitering and prowling, Ogrodnick...

OAN Investigates EXCLUSIVE: Watch the unraveling of the biggest political scandal in US history. Travel with OAN’s Chanel Rion and Rudy Giuliani to Budapest and Kiev to capture explosive first-hand interviews with key Ukrainian officials highlighting DNC collaborated foreign interference into the 2016 presidential election. Hear the first hand testimony of former Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin on why he was fired and what corruption he uncovered. Watch all 3 parts FREE below. ****

by Joe Callen In a stunning, unexpected ruling, a judge on Wednesday tossed out New York State charges of mortgage fraud against Paul Manafort because of ‘double jeopardy’ laws. This is a huge victory for Paul Manafort, who remains in custody on federal charges, because this opens a way for Trump to issue him a presidential pardon. And not just for Manafort: this ruling throws a legal hand grenade into the entire Democrat strategy of punishing former Trump aides and supporters with state charges to bypass his pardon powers. Manafort, 70, is currently serving a seven and half year prison sentence...

Greta Thunberg apologized Saturday after saying that politicians should be put "against the wall” after some critics alleged that the teen climate activist was advocating for violence against officials. “Yesterday I said we must hold our leaders accountable and unfortunately said “put them against the wall”. That’s Swenglish: “att ställa någon mot väggen” (to put someone against the wall) means to hold someone accountable,” Thunberg tweeted. “That’s what happens when you improvise speeches in a second language. But of course I apologise if anyone misunderstood this. I can not enough express the fact that I - as well as the...

Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski Delivers Remarks at the Yakubets Press Conference Washington, DC  ~  Thursday, December 5, 2019 Remarks as Prepared for DeliveryGood morning and thank you all for being here. We are here today to identify and announce charges against a Russian national whom the Department of Justice alleges is responsible for two of the worst computer hacking and bank fraud schemes of the past decade.The charges we are announcing today are merely allegations, and each of the defendants is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.Maksim Yakubets, of Moscow, Russia,...

Caruana Galizia had been investigating alleged corruption within the government. Her family and protesters have accused Muscat of trying to shield members of his inner circle from the ongoing investigation into her death. Her journalism-- including her research into Maltese citizens implicated in the Panama Papers -- had made her some very powerful enemies. The Panama Papers are the name for the leak of millions of files from the database of a Panama law firm called Mossack Fonseca in 2016. The journalist had suffered intimidation over the years -- her dog's throat was cut, and in 2006 her house was...