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August 2017

Earlier today, Attorney General Jeff Sessions held a press conference to announce that four people face charges for leaking classified information while other investigations have intensified. From Fox News:
Session [sic] said criminals who have leaked classified information are “being investigated and will be prosecuted.” He added that four people have already been charged with leaking classified material and related counts, and investigations have tripled.

In the case of Brexit, ordinary British citizens defied the elites in Brussels who thought they know what's best for the British people. Calexit is the opposite. Proponents of Calexit are elitists who are angry that Americans elected Trump and they want a divorce. Let's give it to them. The initiative has a chance to appear on the 2018 ballot, as my colleague Leslie Eastman pointed out in her recent post: #CalExit is resurrected as measure approved for signature gathering

Debbie Wasserman Schultz is in the middle of a spreading scandal over her use of Pakistani IT aides, who were given access to the computers of numerous Democrat politicians and the DNC. Shultz retained those aides, in particular Imran Awan, right up to the time Awan was arrested while trying to flee the country. Congressional Republicans have called for Wasserman Schultz to testify about the relationship. Kimberley Strassel notes that this is The Scandal That Matters:

Israel's security service, Shin Bet, has busted a major money laundering ring run by Hamas that funnelled hundreds of thousands of dollars into building terrorist infrastructure in Judea and Samaria. Hamas operatives were using Turkey as a base for their terror financing operations, revealed a press release issued by Israel’s Minister of Foreign Affairs. The complex money-laundering operation was uncovered in a joint operation by the Shin Bet, IDF, and Israel Police. The investigation led to several arrests in Judea and Samaria, and identified terror operatives in Hamas-controlled Gaza and Turkey, Jerusalem Post wrote. One of the operatives captured by the Shin Bet was previously released from an Israeli prison "as part of the deal to release captured soldier Gilad Shalit, an agreement that saw over 1,000 convicted Palestinian terrorists set free," confirmed the newspaper Times of Israel.

The FBI has arrested Marcus Hutchins, the British security researcher that stopped the WannaCry ransomeware attack, for allegedly being a part of a software attack on banking accounts. The Guardian reported:
According to an indictment released by the US Department of Justice on Thursday, Hutchins is accused of having helped to create, spread and maintain the banking trojan Kronos between 2014 and 2015.

Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski are suggesting that the Trump White House might be behind the leak of the transcripts of President Trump's conversations with the leaders of Mexico and Australia. On today's Morning Joe, Joe and Mika floated the notion that while the leaks might have been mildly embarrassing to the president, they were "really damaging to the press." In support of their theory on who was behind the leaking, the pair pointed to the fact that when the Washington Post informed the White House that they had the transcripts, Trump administration officials did not ask the paper not to publish them.

At a rally for President Donald Trump, West Virginia Governor Governor Jim Justice announced he will switch from the Democrat party to the Republican Party. From KGOU:
"Today I will tell you with lots of prayers and lots of thinking, I'll tell you West Virginians, I can't help you any more being a Democrat governor," Justice said. "The Democrats walked away from me," the governor argued, and reflected that his late mother, who was a big fan of former President Ronald Reagan, was looking down on him thinking, "Jimmy, it's about damn time you came to your senses."

Hen Mazzig is an Israeli who makes frequent appearances abroad to promote the truth about Israel. I first learned of Hen when he wrote about his experiences with the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement in the U.S.:
As a young Israeli who had just completed five years of service in the IDF, I looked forward to my new job educating people in the Pacific Northwest about Israel. I was shocked, however, by the anti-Israel bigotry and hostility I encountered, especially in the greater Seattle area, Oregon, and Berkeley. I had been very liberal, a member of the leftist Zionist party, Meretz, but the anti-Semitism and hatred for Israel that I have seen in the U.S. has changed my outlook personally and politically….

Special Counsel Robert Mueller has launched a grand jury in Washington, D.C., for his investigation into alleged Russian influence into our presidential election. The Wall Street Journal reported:
The grand jury, which began its work in recent weeks, is a sign that Mr. Mueller’s inquiry is ramping up and that it will likely continue for months. Mr. Mueller is investigating Russia’s efforts to influence the 2016 election and whether President Donald Trump’s campaign or associates colluded with the Kremlin as part of that effort.

Since the election there has been an unprecedented attempt to unwind the election result. Events have accelerated on several fronts lately with attempts from outside and within to paralyze the Trump administration. What started as a collective media freakout on Election Night 2016 quickly progressed to an unprecedented attempt to intimidate Electors into changing their votes. Some Democrats announced, even before Trump took office, plans to impeach him, and Democrat politicians fed media-driven Russia collusion conspiracy theories for which they knew there was no evidence. Chuck Schumer, for example, used the alleged fact of Donald Trump being under FBI investigation as an argument against confirming Neal Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, even though Schumer (but not the public) knew from intelligence briefings that Trump was not personally under investigation.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted in favor of the Taylor Force Act 17-4, which now heads to the Senate floor. Five Democrats voted yes: Ben Cardin, Robert Menendez, Christopher Coons, Time Kaine, and Edward Markey. The act is named after American veteran and college student Taylor Force, who was murdered by a Palestinian terrorist in March 2016 in Israel. This act "severely restricts American taxpayer funding for the Palestinian Authority until the State Department verifies that it is no longer inciting terror and has ended its policy of paying monthly salaries to convicted terrorists and their families."

Italy has been struggling to deal with a flood of migrants from Libya and has received little to no help from the EU. This has led to strife, as we pointed out in earlier posts.

Four Muslim men have been convicted of planning a “Lee Rigby-style” terrorist attack that sought to murder and behead police or military personnel using explosive devices and swords. Four years ago, British soldier Lee Rigby was beheaded on a busy London street by two Nigerian-born men -- both recent converts to Islam. The gang of four wanted to carry out a similar attack. The four men were arrested last year carrying a bag of weapons, including a pipe bomb and a meat cleaver with the word 'kafir', or infidel, carved on it. The investigators also recovered a samurai sword in related raids.