Leslie Sharp

Begin min. 7.15 ". . .Crypto ... should we be backstopping Americans or Agents of Chaos?" [caveat, it's my opinion that failure to follow mainstream news coverage, in this instance CBS, leaves one ill-informed as to what millions of fellow US citizens are absorbing — much of which, like it or not — is fact based and vetted by multiples of fact-checkers.]

It's certainly your prerogative, Evan, but I'm experiencing cognitive dissonance. You indicate that anything or anyone you consider to be false and misleading information is a distraction, yet you're pointing to an individual and his story —unnamed and without a full vetting of his claims — that I worry is false and misleading information.

FYI, new thread on Education Forum filed under JFK Assassination Research and tagged jfkdeclassification. JFK Records Act lawsuit — can we collect a list of egregious failures to comply? As a companion piece to Paul Brancato's new thread titled Mary Ferrell Lawsuit - can we get media coverage? I've launched this thread to solicit incidents of NARA's failure to comply with the JFK Records Act. If anyone has a significant outstanding FOIA, either pending or denied, they suspect might relate to the last batch of withheld files, we are asking you to provide enough details of your FOIA to add to this list that will be turned over for consideration of inclusion in the final brief filed by Larry Schnapf and the legal team suing the Biden administration. I plan to add details of the FOIAs for Jean Rene Marie Souetre and the missing Dallas INS report(s) once I've received confirmation of the history behind J. Gary Shaw's lawsuit in pursuit of same (hopefully by Mar 23). I hope readers/members will give this invitation some thought in the very near future, and add to the list as appropriate. It's my understanding that the final brief is due April 27. I. Denied FOIA — files pertaining to Jean Rene Marie Souetre. II. Denied FOIA — files pertaining to Dallas office of the INS report(s) for November 22-26, 1963 III. IV. V. VI. VII.

As a companion piece to Paul Brancato's new thread titled Mary Ferrell Lawsuit - can we get media coverage? I've launched this thread to solicit incidents of NARA's failure to comply with the JFK Records Act. If anyone has a significant outstanding FOIA, either pending or denied, they suspect might relate to the last batch of withheld files, we are asking you to provide enough details of your FOIA to add to this list that will be turned over for consideration of inclusion in the final brief filed by Larry Schnapf and the legal team suing the Biden administration. I plan to add details of the FOIAs for Jean Rene Marie Souetre and the missing Dallas INS report(s) once I've received confirmation of the history behind J. Gary Shaw's lawsuit in pursuit of same (hopefully by Mar 23). I hope readers/members will give this invitation some thought in the very near future, and add to the list as appropriate. It's my understanding that the final brief is due April 27. I. Denied FOIA — files pertaining to Jean Rene Marie Souetre. II. Denied FOIA — files pertaining to Dallas office of the INS report(s) for November 22-26, 1963 III. IV. V. VI. VII.

2. What does that say about the power of the Deep State over Biden? Would that be the same power held over Trump? presuming Napolitano is telling the truth that Trump was FEARFUL to release the entirety of the records when the ACT kicked in on his watch? What pray tell might be the power over Biden if not FEAR? 3. Is Biden beholden to the Deep State in his full range of foreign trade and military policies? You obviously didn't read the post that defines Trump's very own alternative deep state represented by QAnon favorite Kash Patel with decades of service in Intelligence, alt-right Richard Grenell embedded in the State Department and acting director of Trump's National Intel, Erik Prince - head of a private mercenary with little if any Congressional oversight, Tucker Carlson - Murdoch's front man for his own private, alternative deep state media conglomerate. I suggest you don't actually understand the term deep state because it has been coopted by Trump and his following to distort and distract from the Military - Industrial Complex, the latter of which is supported by US investors that just may include Trump's major backers. Has anyone delved into Thiel's or Musk's, or Leonard's investments in military contractors?

if Oswald was innocent, or part of a team, who were the perps? Well said, Paul. After 6 decades, we know almost as much about the life of Lee Harvey Oswald as that of John F. Kennedy. This is proof positive that the schemers chose the "perfect patsy" - one whose short life would be so compelling, researchers and authors would be distracted from looking for those who fired the shots, those who paid the shooters and then protected them, and those who made the decision to permanently remove the democratically elected president. The cottage industry that sprung up around Oswald is a significant aspect of the failure you speak of. Too many for too long were reticent to kill the golden goose. Respected authors within this community each have editors and publishers with access to print and broadcast media that reaches mainstream America. Have they applied pressure?

At the risk of referring to an excerpt from a book I co-authored, it happens to be a fairly concise response to your questions. Three decades following the assassination of John Kennedy, the America First dogma was resurrected unabashedly by Patrick Joseph Buchanan, who at the time was considered an extreme-right Republican. He would eventually run for US president three times. His 1992 presidential campaign platform centered on “Make America first again.” Included in Buchanan’s defense of what had by then become a relatively controversial ideology promoted by the original America First Committee were the signatures of widely respected Americans on early recruitment posters for the original AFC including Quaker Oats’ Bob Suart, future Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, and an asst. varsity coach at Yale and future Republican congressman, US president and Warren Commission member, Gerald Ford. While he is not a household name, the most significant signature on that poster was that of the chairman of the Yale Daily News, Kingman Brewster who had strategized with Charles Lindbergh to create America First. Brewster would later be appointed president of Yale University. In a touch of tragic irony in the investigation into the assassination of John Kennedy, whose father Joe was a committed isolationist and had influenced John to sign on with the AFC, Brewster would later appoint James Angleton’s protégé, Tracy Barnes as special assistant for community relations at Yale when Barnes left the CIA. In another run for US president, Buchanan began identifying as a paleo-conservative and traditionalist. In his October 2004 essay for his monthly newsletter, The American Cause, titled “The Resurrection of America First,” Buchanan reinvigorated the movement, stating that “the achievements of the organization [AFC] are monumental.” To his credit, in a piece for the National Review founded by William F. Buckley—whose own attempts to disenfranchise the dangerous fringe of his party, the John Birch Society, had slowed their momentum—fellow conservative writer Windsor Mann summarized, “Buchanan's brand of populist-nationalism is no longer marginal on the right. It is ascendant. A year after National Review released its ‘Against Trump’ issue, it ran a cover story making the case for nationalism. [Fox News pundit] Tucker Carlson discarded his libertarianism in favor of right-wing nanny-statism. Bennett, who accused Buchanan of ‘flirting with fascism,’ supports Trump, who quoted Benito Mussolini, the founder of fascism, approvingly [stating ‘it's a very good quote’].” According to Mann, Trump made this state of affairs possible, and Buchanan made Trump possible. He writes, “Just as Barry Goldwater's defeat in 1964 precipitated Ronald Reagan's victory in 1980, Buchanan's presidential campaigns in 1992, 1996, and 2000, laid the groundwork for Trump's presidency. His three candidacies exposed fissures on the right and showed Trump that there was an untapped market for nativism, protectionism, and isolationism.” . . . Trump would go on to declare, “’America First’ will be the major and overriding theme of my administration.”

Ben, I'm at a disadvantage because I don't know if you took the same position when 16 of the 17 intel agencies concurred that the Putin regime had infiltrated social network platforms and strengthened Trump's base exponentially, winning him the 2016 election. Ready for my "view" on Musk? He doesn't have a clue what constitutes a democracy. He is a profit driven egomaniacal toxic capitalist, in my view, so I was all in favor of any precautions the appropriate agencies took to monitor Twitter — as they should have all platforms in the lead up to the 2016 election as well. By 2020 they may have overcompensated, and you may argue goose and gander, but I say it's all one gander that threatens our fragile democracy. Notice Meta allowed Trump back on just as he's about to be indicted? Surely you see the move in play?

We played a loop of Keen at my mother's gathering ... The Road Goes on Forever, Gringo Honeymoon .. her faves. Not many know Turkey!! My father irrigated and and then farmed dryland between Tulia and Silverton for years before he bought the Magnolia Oil distribution county. They attended the first national Mobil Oil jobber convention held at the newly opened Cabana Motel, Dallas '61 or '62, I forget. My mother came home telling stories about 'the mafia'. Did you know Keen is related to Lovett and they're related to Robert A. Lovett - guy who essentially chose Kennedy's cabinet, and McCloy's college roommate?

3. . . . I don’t know why one would turn Twittergate evidence over to authorities . . . I don’t know, Ben, perhaps to avoid vigilante justice? Lock Her Up — 2015 Hank Mike Pence — Jan 6, 2020 I Will Be Your Retribution — Trump, 2023 4. . . . There is no evidence that the Trump people were connected to the Jan 6 scrum. Your argument is not fact-based.

That's it, Ron. The Tulia sting happened on W's watch while governor. When he first announced he was running for president, questions started swirling whether he had used cocaine. You may recall that he denied committing adultery but refused to say if he had used drugs. https://www.democracynow.org/2000/10/3/tulia_texas_part_iii_residents_rally Five years after undercover agent Tom Coleman upended the lives of dozens among Tulia's black population and hundreds of their families and friends, the extraordinary efforts of Friends of Justice with assistance from the ADL pressured Bush, by then president (who must have been shamed privately by the flagrant hypocrisy) to propose elimination of the Byrne Grant Program that had funded the one-man sting operation in Tulia. https://drugpolicy.org/news/2005/03/april-5th-congressional-briefing-president-bush

In the first hour and a half of the biggest manhunt in America's modern history, why would a federal agent, FBI SA Bardwell Odum who had been on a first name basis with the Paines long before Oswald and Marina came on the scene, rush to the theatre to witness the arrest of a suspect in a local copy killing? His Commander in Chief had just been murdered in broad daylight in Dallas, yet his attention turns to the Tippit shooting? According to Raymond Gallagher who was the first to recognize the high strangeness of FBI SA Odum's actions in the early hours and days of the investigation, It was between 1:45 and 2:00 pm. that Odum and Day made thedelivery [of a rifle] to Lt. Day's office at Main and Harwood Streets in downtownDallas. At the very same time, according to Hosty, Bardwell was at theTexas Theater witnessing the arrest of LHO. Odum, himself made astatement (HSCA document #01431) describing his observing the arrest.His statement begins:"At approximately 2 p.m., November 22, 1963, I was informed by anunidentified policeman of the DPD that a suspect had been seenentering the back door of the Texas Theater. I immediately proceededto the Texas Theater...." https://alt.assassination.jfk.narkive.com/W5Q7pAkc/bardwell-bard-odum-so-good-they-named-him-twice

@Benjamin Cole2. My take is Fox-Carlson is on the outs with the national security state---did you see Carlson say Pompeo must have known who killed JFK. Egads! Meanwhile, there are platoons of ex intel-state guys holding forth at CNN and MSNBC. Too many to count. Let's disagree on this one. Benjamin, I’ll begin with Kash Patel because the line of inquiry establishes that the alt-right supports their very own“deep state,” the euphemism for the very same Military-Industrial Complex on an international scale that fueled the decision to assassinate Kennedy in Dallas in 1963. These are the ideological descendants. Spinning Trump as the “no war” president to rail against the “deep state” fails to take into account his $738 billion defense bill before he left office. NSC aide who worked to discredit Russia probe moves to senior ODNI post By Daniel Lippman 02/20/2020, Politico Kash Patel, a former acolyte of Rep. Devin Nunes, is now a top adviser in the Office of National Intelligence. Kash Patel, a former top National Security Council official who also played a key role as a Hill staffer in helping Republicans discredit the Russia probe, is now a senior adviser for new acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell, according to four people familiar with the matter. (more on Grenell later.) https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/20/kash-patel-odni-post-116546 ***** Patel’s official bio. KASHYAP P. PATEL, ESQ. Former Chief of Staff to the Secretary of Defense Mr. Patel served as the former Chief of Staff to Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller and is responsible for leading the Secretary’s mission at the Department, including his executive staff and providing counsel to the Secretary on all matters concerning the Department’s operations. Previously, Mr. Patel served as the Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Counterterrorism (CT) at the National Security Council (NSC). In that capacity, Mr. Patel oversaw the execution of several of President Donald J. Trump’s top priorities, including eliminating ISIS and Al-Qa’ida leadership such as al-Baghdadi and Qasem al-Rimi, and the safe repatriation of numerous American hostages. Mr. Patel also served as Principal Deputy to the Acting Director of National Intelligence, where he oversaw the operations of all 17 intelligence community agencies and provided the President’s Daily Briefing. Before joining the NSC, Mr. Patel served as the National Security Advisor and Senior Counsel for the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), where he spearheaded the investigation into the Russian active measures campaign to influence the 2016 presidential election. Concurrently, he oversaw sensitive programs for the Intelligence Community and U.S. Special Operations Forces and worked to enact legislation to fully fund the multi-billion dollar budgets supporting intelligence and counterterrorism operations worldwide. In other words, Patel has been entrenched in the “deep state” apparatus for decades.Yet, Patel had the hutzpah to opine on Breitbart News as recently as 3 Mar, 2023. ‘Taking on the Swamp’ — Kash Patel: ‘There Is No Deep State Without the Fake News Mafia’ Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) about how to take on the administrative state, former Pentagon Chief of Staff Kash Patel said “There is no deep state without the fake news mafia.” Lamenting the fact Americans even have to talk about the reality of a “deep state,” Patel called it something one would normally hear about in “tyrannical dictatorships.” https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/03/03/taking-on-the-swamp-kash-patel-there-is-no-deep-state-without-the-fake-news-mafia/ ***** Moving from Patel to Erik Prince. . . Anyone who has studied the “deep state” knows that Erik Prince’s Blackwater and subsequent iterations is the quintessential private military contractor able to skirt Congressional oversight of his for-profit private mercenary operations in dozens of global hotspots since 1996. His sister was Trump’s Secretary of Education, a woman who advocated for private vouchers that erode America’s public school system. The Men Behind the Nunes Memo The House Intelligence Committee’s chair wasn’t alone in drafting the classified memo that it just voted to release. By Natasha Bertrand JANUARY 30, 2018, The Atlantic [Kash] Patel also formally invited Erik Prince to testify before the House Intelligence Committee last summer following a meeting between Prince and Nunes “over the summer or early fall,” according to a transcript of Prince’s interview, which was conducted on November 30. The meeting raised eyebrows given Nunes’s recusal from the Russia investigation at the time and Prince’s status as a witness in that probe. ***** From Prince and Patel, we move to Patel and Carlson and Fo News, Murcoch’s private, partison, alternative ”deep state” media conglomerate . . . Of note, Patel is not relegated to alt-right broadcast and print media i.e., Breitbart or Gateway Pundit, he’s also a favorite consultant on Fo News. Here he is, March 9, 2023, calling on Tucker Carlson to pursue Ray Epps. See how this works, Benjamin? KASH PATEL CALLS ON TUCKER CARLSON TO RELEASE FOOTAGE OF UNDERCOVER FEDS Mar 8 2023 "Ray Epps was on FBI's most wanted list one day, and the next day he was off. There are only two ways that happens: you die, or you are an informant. . . . https://rumble.com/v2c70lc-kash-patel-calls-on-tucker-carlson-to-release-footage-of-undercover-feds.html ***** And who first advanced Patel’s ideology with millions of Fo viewers? Sean Hannity who took him to meet Trump in the oval. Patel is no ordinary aide to Trump. During the Trump administration, he served as Deputy Assistant to the President, a job he reportedly “landed after Fox News host Sean Hannity took him to meet Trump in the Oval.” After the November 2020 elections, Patel was dispatched to the Defense Department as chief of staff to the acting defense secretary where, among other activities, he reportedly pursued the idea that Italian military satellites had been used to turn votes to Joe Biden in the presidential election, according to Jonathan Karl’s book and the House Select Committee hearings. Since leaving office, Patel has joined the board of directors for the former president’s media company, Trump Media & Technology Group. On June 19, 2022, Trump sent a letter to the National Archives designating Patel as one of the former president’s “representatives for access to Presidential records of my administration.” Patel claims to have been in the room when then-President Trump verbally declassified documents. He has often made other statements in right-wing interviews that anticipate and put forward Trump’s specific claims of innocence about the Mar-a-Lago documents. https://www.justsecurity.org/82723/trump-associates-stated-plan-to-publicly-release-declassified-documents/ Additionally, Patel has close ties to the QAnon conspiracy movement, which Trump has also fully embraced. Patel used QAnon to build the user base of Trump-branded social media site Truth Social; Nunes, his former boss, is the site’s CEO. He has also praised QAnon activists, and defended signing his book using a QAnon slogan. https://www.mediamatters.org/steve-bannon/kash-patel-announces-he-will-tour-united-states-trump-campaign-surrogate-2024 ***** Patel and Richard Grenell, Trump’s Amb. To Germany and proposed to serve as his acting Director of Intelligence … Kash Patel, a former top National Security Council official who also played a key role as a Hill staffer in helping Republicans discredit the Russia probe, is now a senior adviser for new acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell, according to four people familiar with the matter. https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/20/kash-patel-odni-post-116546 New US ambassador to Germany under fire for rightwing support Phillip Olterman June 4, 2018, The Guardian Politicians accuse Richard Grenell of breaching protocol over interview with Breitbart German politicians have criticised Donald Trump’s new ambassador to Germany after he said he wanted to “empower” anti-establishment rightwing forces throughout Europe. “US Senator Chris Murphy said rightly that ambassadors are not supposed to ‘empower’ political parties. Ambassador Grenell is new on his post and I hope this irritation will not be repeated.” https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/04/new-us-ambassador-to-germany-under-fire-for-rightwing-support

@Benjamin Cole2. My take is Fox-Carlson is on the outs with the national security state---did you see Carlson say Pompeo must have known who killed JFK. Egads! Meanwhile, there are platoons of ex intel-state guys holding forth at CNN and MSNBC. Too many to count. Let's disagree on this one. Benjamin, I’ll begin with Kash Patel because the line of inquiry establishes that the alt-right supports their very own“deep state,” the euphemism for the very same Military-Industrial Complex on an international scale that fueled the decision to assassinate Kennedy in Dallas in 1963. These are the ideological descendants. Spinning Trump as the “no war” president to rail against the “deep state” fails to take into account his $738 billion defense bill before he left office. NSC aide who worked to discredit Russia probe moves to senior ODNI post By Daniel Lippman 02/20/2020, Politico Kash Patel, a former acolyte of Rep. Devin Nunes, is now a top adviser in the Office of National Intelligence. Kash Patel, a former top National Security Council official who also played a key role as a Hill staffer in helping Republicans discredit the Russia probe, is now a senior adviser for new acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell, according to four people familiar with the matter. (more on Grenell later.) https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/20/kash-patel-odni-post-116546 ***** Patel’s official bio. KASHYAP P. PATEL, ESQ. Former Chief of Staff to the Secretary of Defense Mr. Patel served as the former Chief of Staff to Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller and is responsible for leading the Secretary’s mission at the Department, including his executive staff and providing counsel to the Secretary on all matters concerning the Department’s operations. Previously, Mr. Patel served as the Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Counterterrorism (CT) at the National Security Council (NSC). In that capacity, Mr. Patel oversaw the execution of several of President Donald J. Trump’s top priorities, including eliminating ISIS and Al-Qa’ida leadership such as al-Baghdadi and Qasem al-Rimi, and the safe repatriation of numerous American hostages. Mr. Patel also served as Principal Deputy to the Acting Director of National Intelligence, where he oversaw the operations of all 17 intelligence community agencies and provided the President’s Daily Briefing. Before joining the NSC, Mr. Patel served as the National Security Advisor and Senior Counsel for the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), where he spearheaded the investigation into the Russian active measures campaign to influence the 2016 presidential election. Concurrently, he oversaw sensitive programs for the Intelligence Community and U.S. Special Operations Forces and worked to enact legislation to fully fund the multi-billion dollar budgets supporting intelligence and counterterrorism operations worldwide. In other words, Patel has been entrenched in the “deep state” apparatus for decades.Yet, Patel had the hutzpah to opine on Breitbart News as recently as 3 Mar, 2023. ‘Taking on the Swamp’ — Kash Patel: ‘There Is No Deep State Without the Fake News Mafia’ Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) about how to take on the administrative state, former Pentagon Chief of Staff Kash Patel said “There is no deep state without the fake news mafia.” Lamenting the fact Americans even have to talk about the reality of a “deep state,” Patel called it something one would normally hear about in “tyrannical dictatorships.” https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/03/03/taking-on-the-swamp-kash-patel-there-is-no-deep-state-without-the-fake-news-mafia/ ***** Moving from Patel to Erik Prince. . . Anyone who has studied the “deep state” knows that Erik Prince’s Blackwater and subsequent iterations is the quintessential private military contractor able to skirt Congressional oversight of his for-profit private mercenary operations in dozens of global hotspots since 1996. His sister was Trump’s Secretary of Education, a woman who advocated for private vouchers that erode America’s public school system. The Men Behind the Nunes Memo The House Intelligence Committee’s chair wasn’t alone in drafting the classified memo that it just voted to release. By Natasha Bertrand JANUARY 30, 2018, The Atlantic [Kash] Patel also formally invited Erik Prince to testify before the House Intelligence Committee last summer following a meeting between Prince and Nunes “over the summer or early fall,” according to a transcript of Prince’s interview, which was conducted on November 30. The meeting raised eyebrows given Nunes’s recusal from the Russia investigation at the time and Prince’s status as a witness in that probe. ***** From Prince and Patel, we move to Patel and Carlson and Fo News, Murcoch’s private, partison, alternative ”deep state” media conglomerate . . . Of note, Patel is not relegated to alt-right broadcast and print media i.e., Breitbart or Gateway Pundit, he’s also a favorite consultant on Fo News. Here he is, March 9, 2023, calling on Tucker Carlson to pursue Ray Epps. See how this works, Benjamin? KASH PATEL CALLS ON TUCKER CARLSON TO RELEASE FOOTAGE OF UNDERCOVER FEDS Mar 8 2023 "Ray Epps was on FBI's most wanted list one day, and the next day he was off. There are only two ways that happens: you die, or you are an informant. . . . https://rumble.com/v2c70lc-kash-patel-calls-on-tucker-carlson-to-release-footage-of-undercover-feds.html ***** And who first advanced Patel’s ideology with millions of Fo viewers? Sean Hannity who took him to meet Trump in the oval. Patel is no ordinary aide to Trump. During the Trump administration, he served as Deputy Assistant to the President, a job he reportedly “landed after Fox News host Sean Hannity took him to meet Trump in the Oval.” After the November 2020 elections, Patel was dispatched to the Defense Department as chief of staff to the acting defense secretary where, among other activities, he reportedly pursued the idea that Italian military satellites had been used to turn votes to Joe Biden in the presidential election, according to Jonathan Karl’s book and the House Select Committee hearings. Since leaving office, Patel has joined the board of directors for the former president’s media company, Trump Media & Technology Group. On June 19, 2022, Trump sent a letter to the National Archives designating Patel as one of the former president’s “representatives for access to Presidential records of my administration.” Patel claims to have been in the room when then-President Trump verbally declassified documents. He has often made other statements in right-wing interviews that anticipate and put forward Trump’s specific claims of innocence about the Mar-a-Lago documents. https://www.justsecurity.org/82723/trump-associates-stated-plan-to-publicly-release-declassified-documents/ Additionally, Patel has close ties to the QAnon conspiracy movement, which Trump has also fully embraced. Patel used QAnon to build the user base of Trump-branded social media site Truth Social; Nunes, his former boss, is the site’s CEO. He has also praised QAnon activists, and defended signing his book using a QAnon slogan. https://www.mediamatters.org/steve-bannon/kash-patel-announces-he-will-tour-united-states-trump-campaign-surrogate-2024 ***** Patel and Richard Grenell, Trump’s Amb. To Germany and proposed to serve as his acting Director of Intelligence … Kash Patel, a former top National Security Council official who also played a key role as a Hill staffer in helping Republicans discredit the Russia probe, is now a senior adviser for new acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell, according to four people familiar with the matter. https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/20/kash-patel-odni-post-116546 New US ambassador to Germany under fire for rightwing support Phillip Olterman June 4, 2018, The Guardian Politicians accuse Richard Grenell of breaching protocol over interview with Breitbart German politicians have criticised Donald Trump’s new ambassador to Germany after he said he wanted to “empower” anti-establishment rightwing forces throughout Europe. “US Senator Chris Murphy said rightly that ambassadors are not supposed to ‘empower’ political parties. Ambassador Grenell is new on his post and I hope this irritation will not be repeated.” https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/04/new-us-ambassador-to-germany-under-fire-for-rightwing-support

@Benjamin Cole 2. My take is Fox-Carlson is on the outs with the national security state---did you see Carlson say Pompeo must have known who killed JFK. Egads! Meanwhile, there are platoons of ex intel-state guys holding forth at CNN and MSNBC. Too many to count. Let's disagree on this one. Benjamin, I’ll begin with Kash Patel because the line of inquiry establishes that the alt-right supports their very own“deep state,” the euphemism for the very same Military-Industrial Complex on an international scale that fueled the decision to assassinate Kennedy in Dallas in 1963. These are the ideological descendants. Spinning Trump as the “no war” president to rail against the “deep state” fails to take into account his $738 billion defense bill before he left office. NSC aide who worked to discredit Russia probe moves to senior ODNI post By Daniel Lippman 02/20/2020, Politico Kash Patel, a former acolyte of Rep. Devin Nunes, is now a top adviser in the Office of National Intelligence. Kash Patel, a former top National Security Council official who also played a key role as a Hill staffer in helping Republicans discredit the Russia probe, is now a senior adviser for new acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell, according to four people familiar with the matter. (more on Grenell later.) https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/20/kash-patel-odni-post-116546 ***** Patel’s official bio. KASHYAP P. PATEL, ESQ. Former Chief of Staff to the Secretary of Defense Mr. Patel served as the former Chief of Staff to Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller and is responsible for leading the Secretary’s mission at the Department, including his executive staff and providing counsel to the Secretary on all matters concerning the Department’s operations. Previously, Mr. Patel served as the Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Counterterrorism (CT) at the National Security Council (NSC). In that capacity, Mr. Patel oversaw the execution of several of President Donald J. Trump’s top priorities, including eliminating ISIS and Al-Qa’ida leadership such as al-Baghdadi and Qasem al-Rimi, and the safe repatriation of numerous American hostages. Mr. Patel also served as Principal Deputy to the Acting Director of National Intelligence, where he oversaw the operations of all 17 intelligence community agencies and provided the President’s Daily Briefing. Before joining the NSC, Mr. Patel served as the National Security Advisor and Senior Counsel for the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), where he spearheaded the investigation into the Russian active measures campaign to influence the 2016 presidential election. Concurrently, he oversaw sensitive programs for the Intelligence Community and U.S. Special Operations Forces and worked to enact legislation to fully fund the multi-billion dollar budgets supporting intelligence and counterterrorism operations worldwide. In other words, Patel has been entrenched in the “deep state” apparatus for decades.Yet, Patel had the hutzpah to opine on Breitbart News as recently as 3 Mar, 2023. ‘Taking on the Swamp’ — Kash Patel: ‘There Is No Deep State Without the Fake News Mafia’ Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) about how to take on the administrative state, former Pentagon Chief of Staff Kash Patel said “There is no deep state without the fake news mafia.” Lamenting the fact Americans even have to talk about the reality of a “deep state,” Patel called it something one would normally hear about in “tyrannical dictatorships.” https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/03/03/taking-on-the-swamp-kash-patel-there-is-no-deep-state-without-the-fake-news-mafia/ ***** Moving from Patel to Erik Prince. . . Anyone who has studied the “deep state” knows that Erik Prince’s Blackwater and subsequent iterations is the quintessential private military contractor able to skirt Congressional oversight of his for-profit private mercenary operations in dozens of global hotspots since 1996. His sister was Trump’s Secretary of Education, a woman who advocated for private vouchers that erode America’s public school system. The Men Behind the Nunes Memo The House Intelligence Committee’s chair wasn’t alone in drafting the classified memo that it just voted to release. By Natasha Bertrand JANUARY 30, 2018, The Atlantic [Kash] Patel also formally invited Erik Prince to testify before the House Intelligence Committee last summer following a meeting between Prince and Nunes “over the summer or early fall,” according to a transcript of Prince’s interview, which was conducted on November 30. The meeting raised eyebrows given Nunes’s recusal from the Russia investigation at the time and Prince’s status as a witness in that probe. ***** From Prince and Patel, we move to Patel and Carlson and Fo News, Murcoch’s private, partison, alternative ”deep state” media conglomerate . . . Of note, Patel is not relegated to alt-right broadcast and print media i.e., Breitbart or Gateway Pundit, he’s also a favorite consultant on Fo News. Here he is, March 9, 2023, calling on Tucker Carlson to pursue Ray Epps. See how this works, Benjamin? KASH PATEL CALLS ON TUCKER CARLSON TO RELEASE FOOTAGE OF UNDERCOVER FEDS Mar 8 2023 "Ray Epps was on FBI's most wanted list one day, and the next day he was off. There are only two ways that happens: you die, or you are an informant. . . . https://rumble.com/v2c70lc-kash-patel-calls-on-tucker-carlson-to-release-footage-of-undercover-feds.html ***** And who first advanced Patel’s ideology with millions of Fo viewers? Sean Hannity who took him to meet Trump in the oval. Patel is no ordinary aide to Trump. During the Trump administration, he served as Deputy Assistant to the President, a job he reportedly “landed after Fox News host Sean Hannity took him to meet Trump in the Oval.” After the November 2020 elections, Patel was dispatched to the Defense Department as chief of staff to the acting defense secretary where, among other activities, he reportedly pursued the idea that Italian military satellites had been used to turn votes to Joe Biden in the presidential election, according to Jonathan Karl’s book and the House Select Committee hearings. Since leaving office, Patel has joined the board of directors for the former president’s media company, Trump Media & Technology Group. On June 19, 2022, Trump sent a letter to the National Archives designating Patel as one of the former president’s “representatives for access to Presidential records of my administration.” Patel claims to have been in the room when then-President Trump verbally declassified documents. He has often made other statements in right-wing interviews that anticipate and put forward Trump’s specific claims of innocence about the Mar-a-Lago documents. https://www.justsecurity.org/82723/trump-associates-stated-plan-to-publicly-release-declassified-documents/ Additionally, Patel has close ties to the QAnon conspiracy movement, which Trump has also fully embraced. Patel used QAnon to build the user base of Trump-branded social media site Truth Social; Nunes, his former boss, is the site’s CEO. He has also praised QAnon activists, and defended signing his book using a QAnon slogan. https://www.mediamatters.org/steve-bannon/kash-patel-announces-he-will-tour-united-states-trump-campaign-surrogate-2024 ***** Patel and Richard Grenell, Trump’s Amb. To Germany and proposed to serve as his acting Director of Intelligence … Kash Patel, a former top National Security Council official who also played a key role as a Hill staffer in helping Republicans discredit the Russia probe, is now a senior adviser for new acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell, according to four people familiar with the matter. https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/20/kash-patel-odni-post-116546 New US ambassador to Germany under fire for rightwing support Phillip Olterman June 4, 2018, The Guardian Politicians accuse Richard Grenell of breaching protocol over interview with Breitbart German politicians have criticised Donald Trump’s new ambassador to Germany after he said he wanted to “empower” anti-establishment rightwing forces throughout Europe. “US Senator Chris Murphy said rightly that ambassadors are not supposed to ‘empower’ political parties. Ambassador Grenell is new on his post and I hope this irritation will not be repeated.” https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/04/new-us-ambassador-to-germany-under-fire-for-rightwing-support

This may seem a bit obtuse, but in my mind it's apropos your post.

Unconscionable.

You're welcome.

@Benjamin Cole Ben, I'm bringing our conversation to what seems to be the more appropriate thread. Let's begin with your 1. Russiagate Hoax: Report On The Investigation Into Russian Interference In The 2016 Presidential Election, Volume II of II . . . Fourth, if we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the President clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state. Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards, however, we are unable to reach that judgment. The evidence we obtained about the President’s actions and intent presents difficult issues that prevent us from conclusively determining that no criminal conduct occurred. Accordingly, while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him. https://www.justice.gov/storage/report_volume2.pdf Analysis by the American Constitution Society* The actual text of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report tells a very different story than what was in summaries produced by Attorney General William Barr in letters to Congress and in a press conference prior to the report’s release. A comparison of the report and Barr’s statements shows that Barr downplayed Mueller’s findings about Russian contacts with Trump campaign associates as well as the damning evidence of the president’s obstruction of justice that Mueller assembled. Following are examples of this gap. Whether the President Is Exonerated on Obstruction of Justice Special Counsel Report: The report makes the statement: “[I]f we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the President clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state. Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards, we are unable to reach that judgment.” It further states, “The evidence we obtained about the President’s actions and intent presents difficult issues that prevent us from conclusively determining that no criminal conduct occurred. Accordingly, while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.” (Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Election, Vol. 2, page 2 (March 2019) (“Special Counsel Report”)) Barr Statements: The Attorney General omitted the Special Counsel office’s allusion to their lack of confidence in exonerating evidence as well as repeated findings that there was substantial evidence supporting the key elements of obstruction. Instead, Barr offered his own conclusions about the obstruction case against the president, stating, “I have concluded that the evidence developed during the Special Counsel's investigation is not sufficient to establish that the President committed an obstruction-of-justice offense.” (Letter from Attorney General Bill Barr to House and Senate Judiciary Committee leaders, p. 3 (March 24, 2019) (the “Barr Letter”)) see full analysis here. https://www.acslaw.org/projects/the-presidential-investigation-education-project/other-resources/stark-contrasts-between-the-mueller-report-and-attorney-general-barrs-summary/ * Russ Feingold, President ACS During his 18 years in the United States Senate, Russ was ranked 6th in the Senate for bipartisan voting. He is a recipient of the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award and cosponsored the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (McCain-Feingold Act), the only major piece of campaign finance reform legislation passed into law in decades. Russ was the only Senator to vote against the initial enactment of the USA PATRIOT Act during the first vote on the legislation and was well-known for his opposition to the Iraq War and as the Senate's leading opponent of the death penalty. He served on the Judiciary, Foreign Relations, Budget, and Intelligence Committees. Russ was Chairman or Ranking Member of the Constitution Subcommittee.

Ben, let's begin with your 1. Russiagate Hoax: Report On The Investigation Into Russian Interference In The 2016 Presidential Election, Volume II of II . . . Fourth, if we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the President clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state. Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards, however, we are unable to reach that judgment. The evidence we obtained about the President’s actions and intent presents difficult issues that prevent us from conclusively determining that no criminal conduct occurred. Accordingly, while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him. https://www.justice.gov/storage/report_volume2.pdf Analysis by the American Constitution Society* The actual text of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report tells a very different story than what was in summaries produced by Attorney General William Barr in letters to Congress and in a press conference prior to the report’s release. A comparison of the report and Barr’s statements shows that Barr downplayed Mueller’s findings about Russian contacts with Trump campaign associates as well as the damning evidence of the president’s obstruction of justice that Mueller assembled. Following are examples of this gap. Whether the President Is Exonerated on Obstruction of Justice Special Counsel Report: The report makes the statement: “[I]f we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the President clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state. Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards, we are unable to reach that judgment.” It further states, “The evidence we obtained about the President’s actions and intent presents difficult issues that prevent us from conclusively determining that no criminal conduct occurred. Accordingly, while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.” (Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Election, Vol. 2, page 2 (March 2019) (“Special Counsel Report”)) Barr Statements: The Attorney General omitted the Special Counsel office’s allusion to their lack of confidence in exonerating evidence as well as repeated findings that there was substantial evidence supporting the key elements of obstruction. Instead, Barr offered his own conclusions about the obstruction case against the president, stating, “I have concluded that the evidence developed during the Special Counsel's investigation is not sufficient to establish that the President committed an obstruction-of-justice offense.” (Letter from Attorney General Bill Barr to House and Senate Judiciary Committee leaders, p. 3 (March 24, 2019) (the “Barr Letter”)) see full analysis here. https://www.acslaw.org/projects/the-presidential-investigation-education-project/other-resources/stark-contrasts-between-the-mueller-report-and-attorney-general-barrs-summary/ * Russ Feingold, President ACS During his 18 years in the United States Senate, Russ was ranked 6th in the Senate for bipartisan voting. He is a recipient of the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award and cosponsored the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (McCain-Feingold Act), the only major piece of campaign finance reform legislation passed into law in decades. Russ was the only Senator to vote against the initial enactment of the USA PATRIOT Act during the first vote on the legislation and was well-known for his opposition to the Iraq War and as the Senate's leading opponent of the death penalty. He served on the Judiciary, Foreign Relations, Budget, and Intelligence Committees. Russ was Chairman or Ranking Member of the Constitution Subcommittee.

Trump’s first 2024 campaign rally will be in Waco William Melhado, The Texas Tribune March 18, 2023 [Note - Waco is the home of Baylor University.] In the spirit of High Strangeness and Synchronicity, the subtitle of Hank Albarelli Jr.'s initial foray into the investigation of the assassination of President Kennedy in Dallas ... you can't make this stuff up... From Coup in Dallas . . . [Conservative writer Windsor] Mann also called attention to a quote which Donald Trump had borrowed from an online account, @ildulce2016: “It is better to live one day as a lion than 100 years as a sheep.” We know that it was Il Dulce, the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, who was rescued by Hitler’s favorite commando, SS Otto Skorzeny; we also know that it was Skorzeny, captured in a cordial if not flagrantly warm photo with Benito’s son Romano in 1960, who served as the tactician for the plot to assassinate John Kennedy in Dallas.. . . . . . At the time of [Dallas oilman Algur] Meadows’ highly touted Spanish oil venture with [Otto] Skorzeny which required the approval of [Francisco] Franco, the former National Socialist SS officer had already endeared himself to the Spanish general who had long sought the attention of Italian fascist dictator Mussolini. In a letter from Mussolini addressed to Franco, dated August 25, 1940, Mussolini wrote, I should like to say to you, dear Franco, that I, with these my practical considerations, do not wish to hasten you in the least in the decision that you have to make, for I am sure that in your decisions you will proceed on the basis of the protection of the vital interests of your people and am just as certain that you will not let this opportunity go by of giving Spain her African Lebensraum. . . .There is no doubt that after France, Great Britain will be defeated; the British regime exists only on one single element: the lie . . . I certainly do not need to tell you that you, in your aspirations, can count on the full solidarity of Fascist Italy. I beg you, dear Franco, to accept my most cordial and comradely greetings.” —MUSSOLINI, The Chief of Government and Duce of Fascism. Among Mussolini's goals had been to create an Italian empire in North Africa. In 1935, the dictator provoked war with Ethiopia, conquering the country in eight months. (This history is a marker for events that unfolded in 1963, when as we know from Pierre Lafitte, global arms deals were very much alive and well in disputes between Eritrea and Ethiopia.) Following Mussolini’s victory in Ethiopia, he sent 70,000 Italian troops to Spain to support Franco and defeat the republican government in the Spanish Civil War. Among Il Duce’s mottos, ‘”Believe! Obey! Fight!” The camaraderie that developed between Spain’s own fascist dictator and Benito Mussolini reminds us of the obsequious tone of Dr. [A. Joseph] Armstrong’s memories of the Baylor “Browning Pilgrims’” when encountering Il Duce in 1931, covered in more detail in the chapter notes. It was, after all, Mussolini who extolled the virtues of fascism—in fact many argue he invented the ideology—as an alternative to socialist radicalism and parliamentary inaction. “Fascism,” he promised, “would end political corruption and labor strife while maintaining capitalism and private property. It would make trains run on time.” Nothing could appeal more to the interests of archconservative business, civic, and religious leaders across Texas. Chapter Note MUSSOLINI RECEIVES THE BROWNING PILGRIMS: “When Mr. Mussolini notified the American ambassador that he would be pleased to receive us, the Chargé d’ Affaires ad interim, Alexander Kirk, called to inform us and to instruct us in the niceties of such a reception. His visit was followed by a special messenger from the Italian “ministero degli Affari Esteri" bearing a very large envelope with a gold seal. In Italian the Secretary had informed us that “the Chief of the Government”—as Mussolini is invariably called—“would receive us at 19:45 in the Palazzo Venezia.” It was a memorable day that “the Chief of the Government”—as Mussolini is invariably called—“would receive us at 19:45 in the Palazzo Venezia.” It was a memorable day. The Browning Pilgrims had been given an audience by the Pope at one and now at 7:45 we were being accorded a private reception by Mussolini. It thrills Americans to see Mussolini as he leaves his home in his automobile … but to see him intimately at close range was exciting and unforgettable . . . since our return to America, Mr. Mussolini has shown his further interest in Baylor Browning Collection and this pilgrimage by sending his autographed photograph in large cabinet size to be placed in the Browning Library—“ Baylor Bulletin: ‘BROWNING INTERESTS’ by A. Joseph Armstrong, Ph D., Litt.D. https://www.rawstory.com/trumps-first-2024-campaign-rally-will-be-in-waco/

I look forward to your contributions . . . there seems to be an echo in this thread. I appreciate you look forward to contributions, but I'm curious why you feel a need to repeat the phrase with every response? You suggest here that you've presented a case. If you have, can you please repost because I don't recognize anything that fits the description. Maybe you could start by challenging the following in the specific. You could build your case from here, with facts not views. the Russiagate Hoax — Barr's interference [with] and misrepresentation of the Mueller Report, Barr's findings in Italy that he [later] covered up, Dunham's attempts that fell short with only one indictment. the alliance of the intel state-media and the rival political party — Murdoch has privatized intel. McCarthy and Carlson represent the NEW intel state-media [as evidence by Carlson's eclusive access to 40,000 hours of footage of Jan 6.] the Twittergate files — dropped [in the public domain] by media operative Matt Taibi instead of being turned over to authorities directly. and the mysterious events of 1/6. — Loudermilk photographing hallways, access and egress, stairwells is very mysterious, a-typical of tourist behavior.

Why did Federal Agents rush to the theatre in the middle of a manhunt for the assassin of the president?

Including the Secret Service. Hmmmm, who among the possible perps in this case is protected on the taxpayers dime?