Pakistani Man of Mystery: The Spy Who Shagged US

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Intro to George Webb on CharacterDriven

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Awan Brothers: House IT Aides Fear Suspects In Hill Breach Are Blackmailing Members With Their Own Data

Congressional technology aides are baffled that data-theft allegations against four former House IT workers — who were banned from the congressional network — have largely been ignored, and they fear the integrity of sensitive high-level information.

Imran Awan and three relatives were colleagues until police banned them from computer networks at the House of Representatives after suspicion the brothers accessed congressional computers without permission.

Five Capitol Hill technology aides told The Daily Caller News Foundation’s Investigative Group that members of Congress have displayed an inexplicable and intense loyalty towards the suspects who police say victimized them. The baffled aides wonder if the suspects are blackmailing representatives based on the contents of their emails and files, to which they had full access.

http://truepundit.com/awan-brothers-house-it-aides-fear-suspects-in-hill-breach-are-blackmailing-members-with-their-own-data/

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US Intel Vets Dispute Russia Hacking Claims

As the hysteria about Russia’s alleged interference in the U.S. election grows, a key mystery is why U.S. intelligence would rely on “circumstantial evidence” when it has the capability for hard evidence, say U.S. intelligence veterans.

Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity

MEMORANDUM

Allegations of Hacking Election Are Baseless

A New York Times report on Monday alluding to “overwhelming circumstantial evidence” leading the CIA to believe that Russian President Vladimir Putin “deployed computer hackers with the goal of tipping the election to Donald J. Trump” is, sadly, evidence-free. This is no surprise, because harder evidence of a technical nature points to an inside leak, not hacking – by Russians or anyone else.

Seal of the National Security Agency

Monday’s Washington Post reports that Sen. James Lankford, R-Oklahoma, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, has joined other senators in calling for a bipartisan investigation of suspected cyber-intrusion by Russia. Reading our short memo could save the Senate from endemic partisanship, expense and unnecessary delay.

In what follows, we draw on decades of senior-level experience – with emphasis on cyber-intelligence and security – to cut through uninformed, largely partisan fog. Far from hiding behind anonymity, we are proud to speak out with the hope of gaining an audience appropriate to what we merit – given our long labors in government and other areas of technology. And corny though it may sound these days, our ethos as intelligence professionals remains, simply, to tell it like it is – without fear or favor.

https://consortiumnews.com/2016/12/12/us-intel-vets-dispute-russia-hacking-claims/

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Trey Gowdy Shocks Congress Then Walks Off Like A Boss

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Senators Blame Obama For Not Helping Them Understand Their Own Bill

Last Friday, President Barack Obama vetoed a bill called the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, better known as JASTA. The bill, which enjoyed broad bipartisan support in both houses of Congress, would, among other things, have allowed plaintiffs to sue countries known to have sponsored terrorist acts for compensatory damages. Many of the bill’s supporters had pitched JASTA as a “sue Saudi Arabia” bill, based on their insistent belief that Saudi Arabia was behind the Sept. 11 attacks. The bill’s supporters in Congress frequently cited the 9/11 attacks as their motivation for passing the bill in the first place.

Obama vetoed JASTA, but the story didn’t end there. Earlier this week, Congress handed Obama the first veto override of his presidential tenure. JASTA was law, baby! All that’s left is the high-fiving!

But there always has to be a morning after. And many members of Congress, after they’d come down a bit from their veto override high, evidently started to wonder about what they’d done, exactly. That’s when they found that the bill they supported through a veto override maaaaaybe needed a tweak or two. Per Jordain Carney at The Hill:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/senators-jasta-override-durrrrrrr_us_57ee7303e4b024a52d2e725c?

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Forget Pokémon Go, play Congressmon Go!

http://www.freep.com/story/opinion/columnists/mike-thompson/2016/07/11/pokemon-go-game/86969258/

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Congresswoman indicted, accused of using charity as 'slush fund'

Rep. Corrine Brown (D-Fla.) and her chief of staff, Elias “Ronnie” Simmons, are being charged with 24 counts of fraud in connection with a fake charity, according to a federal grand jury indictment that was released Friday.

 

The charges include mail and wire fraud, conspiracy and tax fraud, according to the Department of Justice.

 

Prosecutors allege that Brown and her associates were pocketing funds from a One Door for Education Inc., an organization that billed itself as a charity for poor students even though it was not properly registered as a nonprofit.

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/287012-congresswoman-indicted-on-24-counts-of-fraud

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CONYERS SITS IN TO DEMAND ACTION ON GUN VIOLENCE

Washington, DC – House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) released the following statement on the sit-in on the House floor today to demand action on gun violence:

Rep. John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) is pictured on the House floor during the sit-in with Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL) and House Democrats.

“It is simply unacceptable for Congress to choose to do nothing in the face of gun violence, which takes a deadly toll on our streets and in our communities every day.  It appears that Republicans’ only response to gun violence is silence — but we won’t be silent. What we are doing on the House floor is a call to action.  We are challenging Republicans in the House to simply hold votes on common-sense bills that are supported overwhelmingly by our citizens. 

“I join my colleagues today for the sit-in because now is the time to face the challenges posed by gun violence by taking steps that we know will make us safer. I thank my good friend Congressman John Lewis for initiating this sit-in to demand that Congress act now.

“Our Republican colleagues can no longer ignore the plight of the American people and calls from Democratic members of Congress to do something. It’s past time that we act, and bring legislation to the floor that addresses serious problems within our system that allow guns to fall into the wrong hands.”

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The 2012 Budget Collapse Continues

The 2012 Budget Collapse Continues

Posted by Jim Harper, May 9, 2011 at 9:00 am

One week from today, Congress can start considering appropriations bills, the bills that allocate spending on federal government operations for the 2012 budget year. If it does so, the budget process will be on schedule.

But something has to happen before these bills can go to the floor: there has to be a budget.

There is no fiscal 2012 budget.

Less than a month ago, we talked about thebeginning of the 2012 budget collapse. That collapse continues.

As we explained then, if a budget doesn’t happen, the Appropriations Committees don’t get the amounts they’re supposed to work with. If the Appropriations Committees don’t get the amounts they’re supposed to work with, they don’t move the spending bills. The Congress ends up passing short-term spending bills and making decisions on the fly that the American people don’t get to learn about until they’re already law.

But a Reuters news commentary says that a group of negotiators could come up with a budget before too long.

Lately, the spotlight has shone on what’s being called the “Group of Six Plus One” to save the day: Biden, three senators and three leading members of the House of Representatives. They carry plenty of political heft and the ability to whip rank-and-file members of Congress into supporting a potential deal to enact a wide range of spending cuts. But it is the Senate’s Group of Six, which is avoiding the limelight, that is seen as having the heavyweight expertise to sort out complicated budget issues, along with the willingness to consider tax increases and popular benefit program cuts needed for a long-term fix of the country’s fiscal mess.

We shall see. In the meantime, here are a few things you can do, especially if you are represented by a member of the House or Senate Budget Committee:

Sign our petition: “We Want a Transparent and Orderly Congress.” Do so after you create an account and log in, because then you can comment on the petition. We’re going to use the petition’s page to organize a non-partisan campaign to get Congress doing its job right.

Pass this information along to a friend or colleague. Things only change when people get organized. YOU need to organize the people around you. So send people you think would be interested a link to this blog post!

Contact your member of Congress: Tell him or her that you want to see a final budget agreement, and ask what date he or she expects that agreement to be finalized. Please post anything you learn here or on the “transparent and orderly” petition page. You should especially do this if you are represented by member of Congress on the House Budget Committee, listed below, or on the Senate Budget Committee, listed below that.

Your efforts can make a difference! Don’t delay! Push Congress to do its work!

House Budget Committee members

Paul Ryan (WI-01), Chairman Scott Garrett (NJ-05) Mike Simpson (ID-02) John Campbell (CA-48) Ken Calvert (CA-44) Todd Akin (MO-02) Tom Cole (OK-04) Tom Price (GA-06) Tom McClintock (CA-04) Jason Chaffetz (UT-03) Marlin Stutzman (IN-03) James Lankford (OK-05) Diane Black (TN-06) Reid Ribble (WI-08) Bill Flores (TX-17) Mick Mulvaney (SC-05) Tim Huelskamp (KS-01) Todd Young (IN-09) Justin Amash (MI-03) Todd Rokita (IN-04) Frank Guinta (NH-01) Rob Woodall (GA-07)

Chris Van Hollen (MD-08), Ranking MemberAllyson Schwartz (PA-13) Marcy Kaptur (OH-09) Lloyd Doggett (TX-25) Earl Blumenauer (OR-03) Betty McCollum (MN-04) John Yarmuth (KY-03) Bill Pascrell (NJ-08) Mike Honda (CA-15) Tim Ryan (OH-17) Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-20) Gwen Moore (WI-04) Kathy Castor (FL-11) Heath Shuler (NC-11) Paul Tonko (NY-21) Karen Bass (CA-33)

Senate Budget Committee members

Kent Conrad (ND), Chairman Patty Murray (WA) Ron Wyden (OR) Bill Nelson (FL) Debbie Stabenow (MI) Benjamin L. Cardin (MD) Bernie Sanders (VT) Sheldon Whitehouse (RI) Mark R. Warner (VA) Jeff Merkley (OR) Mark Begich (AK) Chris Coons (DE)

Jeff Session (AL), Ranking MemberCharles Grassley (IA) Mike Enzi (WY) Mike Crapo (ID) John Ensign (NV) John Cornyn (TX) Lindsey Graham (SC) John Thune (SD) Rob Portman (OH) Pat Toomey (PA) Ron Johnson (WI)