Free Republic

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley is seeking to cut in half the budget for an in-house Pentagon think tank, citing in part dubious contracts awarded to Stefan Halper, the FBI’s main spy in its Trump-Russia probe. Mr. Grassley’s target is the Office of Net Assessment (ONA), which gauges foreign threats and the U.S. military’s ability to defeat them. Mr. Halper, whom the FBI wired and deployed to try to persuade Trump associates to implicate themselves in a Russia conspiracy, has received over $1 million in ONA contracts for various studies on China and Russia. “That office has lost its...

The Obama holdover heading the Pentagon office reportedly under investigation by the U.S. attorney who is conducting the criminal probe of the Trump–Russia investigation was accused of leaking a classified document, in a recent court filing for retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn. The connection hasn’t been previously reported. According to a Nov. 21 report by independent journalist Sara Carter, U.S. Attorney John Durham is questioning personnel in the Pentagon’s Office of Net Assessment (ONA). ONA awarded about $1 million in contracts to FBI informant Stefan Halper, who appears to have played a key role in alleged U.S. intelligence agency spying...

A company whose president is “best friends” with Chelsea Clinton received more than $11 million in contracts over the last decade from a highly secretive Department of Defense think tank, but to date, the group lacks official federal approval to handle classified materials, according to sensitive documents TheDCNF was allowed to review.Jacqueline Newmyer, the president of a company called the Long Term Strategy Group, has over the last 10 years received numerous Defense Department contracts from a secretive think tank called Office of Net Assessment.The Office of Net Assessment is so sensitive, the specialized think tank is housed in the Office...

A Pentagon analyst was stripped of his security clearance by Obama holdovers after he complained of suspicious government contracts with Stefan Halper, the FBI informant who spied on the Trump presidential campaign in 2016, the Washington Times reported. The pro-Trump analyst also apparently ruffled feathers when he blew the whistle on an alleged sweetheart deal with a woman Chelsea Clinton referred to as her “best friend.” Adam Lovinger, a senior official of the Defense Department’s Office of Net Assessment (ONA), had his security clearance yanked on May 1, 2017, and has been relegated to performing clerical chores ever since. ONA...

The Pentagon’s Inspector General has launched a preliminary investigation into charges that James H. Baker, the director of the Defense Department’s Office of Net Assessment (ONA), is retaliating against a whistleblower who warned of “rigged” contracts to outside consultants, The Daily Caller News Foundation has confirmed. TheDCNF verified through two independent sources that the acting IG, Glenn A. Fine, initiated a formal “Whistleblower Reprisal Investigation” Sept. 28 to look into allegations that Baker unleashed various reprisals against Adam Lovinger, a senior ONA official. Lovinger warned about potential sweetheart deals to politically-connected outside contractors, including one with a woman Chelsea Clinton...