Beet L. Jooz

On the Thousand Oaks shooting, "we are no closer to determining that today than we were at the onset of the incident..."

Mexico's outgoing government announced on Tuesday that it will bestow the country's top honor for foreigners on Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law, a decision quickly met with derision by critics on social media.

Roger Stone has replied to a Tuesday report that Jerome Corsi's research on the Podesta brothers was designed as a cover story for Stone's apparent foreknowledge of the WikiLeaks publication of John Podesta's emails. 

Responding in a Daily Caller piece suggesting that his friend "Jerry" is "simply mistaken," and maintains that he based his tweets on Corsi's yet-to-be-released work. 

Go back and look at the reporting at the time. It was not until after the Podesta emails were released that my tweet got any attention. If the reports are true, Jerry is simply mistaken that what we discussed was a cover. Ask yourself: a cover for what? In August 2016, there was no investigation, no special counsel, no congressional committees, and no subpoenas. Why would a cover story be necessary?

...

Corsi told One America News that Mueller wanted him to say he was my conduit to Assange, and that I passed allegedly stolen or hacked emails to Donald Trump or the Trump campaign. Corsi said he refused to say it because that statement would have been false.

Despite all this, media reports indicate that Mueller deputy Jeannie Rhee, a former lawyer for the Clinton Foundation, ridiculed and badgered Dr. Corsi — a 72-year-old man — over 40 hours of interrogation. -Roger Stone

According to a report in the Daily Caller, Corsi has claimed in a new book that he has a joint defense agreement with President Trump to provide Stone with a cover story for a tweet which suggested that he had foreknowledge of WikiLeaks' release of emails which would be damaging to Hillary Clinton campaign manager, John Podesta. 

Corsi claims he was also given limited immunity by special counsel Robert Mueller, according to the Daily Caller's Chuck Ross - who has seen an advanced copy of the book. 

The cover story in question revolves around Stone's August 21, 2016 tweet that it would "soon [be] the Podesta's time in the barrel."

Corsi testified that he and Stone hatched a plan in which Corsi would write a memo about the Podestas to allow Stone to cite it as the basis for his tweet. The revelation, if accurate, would undercut Stone’s testimony to the House Intelligence Committee that opposition research on the Podesta brothers’ business activities was the catalyst for the tweet. -Daily Caller

Stone has denied that he and Corsi concocted the cover story - insisting that his tweet was in reference to forthcoming opposition research on the topic. The longtime Trump adviser also noted that Corsi has not claimed to have email or text message evidence supporting his story about the memo. Stone also sent the Caller a series of tweets he posted before the August 21 twee which showed that he was following reporting on Podesta activities in Ukraine. 

“John Podesta makes Paul Manafort look like St. Thomas Aquinas. Where is The New York Times?” Stone wrote on Aug. 15, 2016, referring to news articles alleging that Manafort, the chairman of Trump’s campaign, had engaged in illegal business dealings in Ukraine. Stone claims that he was researching the Podesta Group’s lobbying activities in Ukraine. -Daily Caller

On Monday, Corsi announced both his book's release and that he had rejected a plea arrangement from Mueller - stating that he would not plead guilty to a crime he did not commit. In his new book, Cosri says that his joint defense agreement with Trump's legal team was designed to conceal the cover story. 

He claims that Sekulow, Trump’s lawyer, suggested the agreement could be verbal in nature and did not need to be put in writing.

“This saved creating a document that might appear later in some relevant legal proceeding or newspaper article,” Corsi writes.

Joint defense agreements are common in criminal proceedings, especially when multiple witnesses and investigative targets are dealing with the same prosecutors. Trump has one such agreement with Paul Manafort, the former Trump campaign chairman who was convicted of tax and bank fraud in the special counsel’s probe on Aug. 21. Prosecutors often bristle at the agreements because they allow witnesses to exchange information about the investigation that would otherwise be limited by attorney-client privilege. -Daily Caller

Corsi insists that he and Trump's legal team entered into the agreement before his first meeting with Mueller's team on Sept. 6, after his first encounter with the DOJ on August 28 during which FBI agents subpoenaed him to testify before the grand jury. 

Corsi's attorney, David Gray, was leery of the government offer - suggesting that it might make the Stone associate appear less cooperative to Mueller's team. 

"During their phone conversation, Sekulow offered to Gray that the White House was willing to enter into what is known as a mutual defense agreement with us," writes Corsi - adding that under the verbal agreement "we and the White House would be permitted to share information privately about the Special Prosecutor’s investigation, with the goal of the White House and me assisting one another in defending ourselves."

Corsi claims that after a few days of mulling it over, Gray called Seculow back and accepted the offer.

"After debating the pros and cons, we had decided that anytime we could get the attorney for the president of the United States to offer assistance to us, we needed to say to be thankful and accept," Corsi writes in his book. 

Corsi writes of one instance in which Gray, his lawyer, had contact with Sekulow. He says that he wanted Gray to warn Trump that “we had to assume the Special Counselor would have everything.”

“All emails, text messages, written notes, and phone records could be obtained by search warrant.”

“I wanted the president warned NOT to give in-person verbal testimony to Mueller under any circumstances,” he adds, expressing concern that prosecutors were moving towards a “perjury trap” against him for misremembering details about a July 25, 2016, email he received from Stone. -Daily Caller

Corsi, meanwhile, accepted "limited use immunity" from Mueller's team to avoid what he says would have been another perjury trap. The immunity discussions began when Mueller attorney Aaron Zelinsky - one of Trump's so-called "13 Angry Democrats" - asked Corsi if he was aware that Stone had testified to the House Intelligence Committee that Corsi's Podesta brothers research was the foundation for his August 21, 2016 tweet. 

After interrupting the interview to confer with prosecutors, Gray informed Corsi that Mueller's team "had agreed to give me a grant of immunity for my testimony here." 

"David explained to me that I could be criminally charged for subornation of perjury for my role in creating a ‘cover story’ about Podesta that Stone used in his testimony under oath to the House Intelligence Committee," writes Corsi. 

Where did Stone really hear about the emails? 

Stone's Podesta tweet indicating that he knew of the upcoming WikiLeaks release has been a central aspect of Mueller's Russia probe - with John Podesta suggesting after Hillary Clinton's 2016 election defeat that various tweets by Stone showed that the Trump adviser had advanced knowledge of the publication. 

Stone has said in other tweets that left-wing activist and radio host Randy Credico was his source, as Credico is close friends with WikiLeaks lawyer Margaret Ratner Kunstler. 

Stone released text messages on Nov. 14 that showed that Credico told him that WikiLeaks would release documents that would roil the Clinton campaign.

“Hillary’s campaign will die this week,” Credico texted Stone on Oct. 1, 2016.

“Julian Assange has kryptonite on Hillary,” Credico told Stone on Aug. 27, 2016.

Though Credico appears to be one source of information for Stone, prosecutors appear unconvinced by Stone’s public denials that he had no other back channels to WikiLeaks. -Daily Caller

Corsi has denied ever speaking with Julian Assange - instead claiming that he had begun researching John Podesta's business ties with Russians, and believed that the research "would make an excellent cover-story for Stone's unfortunate tweet." 

He writes that in a phone call on August 30, 2016 that "I suggested Stone could use me as an excuse, claiming my research on Podesta and Russia was the basis for Stone’s prediction that Podesta would soon be in the pickle barrel."

"I knew this was a cover-story, in effect not true, since I recalled telling Stone earlier in August that Assange had Podesta emails that he planned to drop as the ‘October Surprise,’ calculated by Assange to deliver a knock-out blow to Hillary Clinton’s presidential aspirations."

Corsi emailed a nine-page research memo to Stone the next day. 

“So you knew this was a lie when you wrote the Podesta email,” Zelinsky asked Corsi during one question-and-answer session, he writes.

“Yes, I did,” Corsi responded. “In politics, it’s not unusual to create alternative explanations to deflect the attacks of your political opponents.”

Corsi maintains that neither he nor Stone committed any crime.

“The evidence I provided against Stone was very weak,” he asserts.

“So, what if we had concocted a cover story to explain away Stone’s ‘Podesta’s time in the barrel’ email … So, what if Roger Stone used my cover story to testify before the House Intelligence Committee. Roger could amend that testimony and Congress rarely pursues anyone for criminal charges of perjury,” he wrote.  -Daily Caller

Corsi concludes: "Without the link to Assange, there was no ‘Russian Collusion’ that could be pinned on Roger Stone."

Truth Or Lies? Separating Fact From Fiction

COMICBOOK.COM: Tonight, ABC aired the classic animated Peanuts special A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, and while many fans tuned in for [READ MORE]

The post Charlie Brown Thanksgiving’ Viewers Upset by “Racist” Scene appeared first on The Savage Nation.

(Zero Hedge) Yesterday we reported that president Trump had authorized troops stationed at the border to act in a law enforcement capacity to “perform those military protective activities that the Secretary of Defense determines are reasonably necessary” to protect border agents, including “a show or use of force (including lethal force, where necessary), crowd control, temporary detention. and cursory search.”

That wasn’t all: speaking to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, the president said on Thursday that he also signed an order to close the U.S. border with Mexico, adding that he’s authorized troops to use lethal force against migrants who attempt to enter the U.S.

“If they have to,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, claiming that at least 500 criminals are among migrants trying to enter the U.S. “So I’m not going to let the military be taken advantage of. I have no choice. Do I want that to happen? Absolutely not. But you’re dealing with rough people.”

The post Trump signs order closing border with Mexico appeared first on WND.

Refers to elected reps as ‘jamokes’.

'I'm sorry. Jim Acosta. Jim Acosta. Jim Acosta'

(Daily Mail) An American missionary was killed by arrows shot by protected tribesmen living on a remote Indian island after he arrived there in a bid to convert them to Christianity.

John Allen Chau, 27, of Vancouver, Washington, paid local fishermen to help him get to North Sentinel Island, one of the world’s most isolated regions in India’s Andaman islands.

Chau took a boat ride with the fishermen before venturing alone in a canoe to North Sentinel Island, where the indigenous people live cut off completely from the outside world.

As soon as he set foot on the island, which is off-limits to visitors, Chau found himself facing a flurry of arrows, official sources said.

The post Protected Indian tribe kills American missionary appeared first on WND.

An American visiting one of the islands in India's remote cluster of Andaman and Nicobar has been killed by a group of hunter-gatherers who live there isolated from the outside world, two police officials said on Wednesday.

The actor also played Mr Dawes Sr in the original film

While Deutsche Bank may have a far greater headache now that it has been implicated as an accomplice in Danske Bank's giant money-laundering efforts, helping some $150 billion in funds transit out of Europe illicitly, in an amusing tangent showing how the biggest, and most troubled, German lender can seemingly get nothing right these days, the most troubled German lender had put on a hedge to minimize risk at its U.S. equities business. Instead, the company lost tens of millions on the trade.

According to Bloomberg, Deutsche Bank's New York traders pooled billions of dollars of positions into one portfolio, known as a central risk book, in an attempt to avert losses and potentially make more money (or maybe in hopes of recreating JPM's London Whale "hedging" behemoth). Alas, it did not work out quite as expected, and the trade backfired leading to a $60 million loss, and forcing Deutsche Bank to slash the book’s size.

A reversal of the "pod" or silo strategy popularized by such hedge funds as Millennium and SAC, central risk books have become a trend at some of the world’s biggest investment banks which have been seeking to minimize risk exposure. As Bloomberg explains, instead of dozens of workers across numerous desks working to limit possible losses, trades are transferred to a single CRB where they are managed by a small team, often with the help of complex algorithms.

But at Deutsche Bank, part of that strategy "didn’t perform as well as desired"... which considering the bank's recent "successes" in equity trading was to be expected, and judging by the bank's response, desired:

“Looking at isolated losses in central risk books is misleading since it does not take into account other related trading books or offsetting factors such as commissions earned,” Kerrie McHugh, a spokeswoman for Deutsche Bank in New York, said in an e-mail. She declined to elaborate on specifics.

While the size of the loss was manageable for one of Europe’s top investment banks, it represents a new glimpse into Deutsche Bank’s problems both at its equities business, which has reported quarterly declines in revenue since 2015, and in the U.S., where the Fed has been scrutinizing its controls.

Adding insult to injury, CEO Christian Sewing has targeted the stocks division for cutbacks since he took the top job in April.

Some more details from Bloomberg on the evolution of Deutsche's CRB:

Executives at the firm started increasing the size of the CRB for the U.S. equities business in late 2016 and continued until this year, when it contained about 2 billion euros ($2.3 billion) of trades, the people said. One person said the pool contained positions in both common stock and equity derivatives, complex contracts that derive their value from shares.

While CRBs are meant to allow banks to cut costs, improve profit and bolster risk management, this particular strategy floundered, partly because of issues with the CRB’s technology, the sources said, and as Bloomberg explains, one of the problems was how well the team’s algorithms analyzed the trading success of counterparties. Another source said that the CRB may also have become "too big to manage properly."

Deutsche Bank executives have since shrunk the size of the CRB to about several hundred million euros, the people said. 

Ryan O’Sullivan, a trader who helped oversee the strategy, moved to the role of global co-head of electronic equities in May of this year, according to his LinkedIn page. Amusingly, according to McHugh, the DB spokeswoman, "he was promoted" confirming that all one needs to do to get to the top at the German bank is lose tens of millions.

And so with this latest failed attempt to prove to the world that its equities trading desk is competitive now safely in the rearview mirror, Deutsche Bank can focus on what truly matters: defending itself from the upcoming accusations that it helped Russians launder - by way of Danske Bank - some $150 billion in "hot money" into the US.

‘Tis the season…to bring up mommy issues?

Wednesday on America’s Newsroom, panelist Brad Blakeman — an ex-assistant to former President George W. Bush — went off on President Barack Obama over a comment he made Monday night saying that the U.S. is plagued by, among other things, “mommy issues.” Although Obama didn’t directly mention President Donald Trump, Blakeman believes that Trump was indeed the target of Obama’s remark. And he was — we’re quoting here — “outraged by it.”

“We had first biracial president who missed a great opportunity to bring this country together because of who and what he was — half-white and half-black,” Blakeman said. “If anybody has mommy issues it’s the president. I never heard him talk about his mom, President Obama. And to allege racism and mommy issues — and he was talking about the president — is beyond the pale.”

Fill-in co-host Jon Scott followed up with a question and a tone that suggested he couldn’t quite believe what he’d just heard.

“You think that the president — the former president, I should say, did not — well, did not mention his mother deliberately?!”

“I’m just saying…I never heard him talk about his mother,” Blakeman said. “Ever in a public forum…if somebody has mommy issues, perhaps he should look at himself.”

Tension ensued.

“I’m just gonna say, into the holiday season, you’re much better than that,” former Obama advisor Robert Wolf said.

“Let’s leave moms out of it,” co-host Sandra Smith added.

Watch above, via Fox News.

A North Carolina principal accused of raping a 12-year-old female student was found dead Friday in a wooded area from an apparent self-inflicted injury, police said.

'There was a fear if a terrible crime was committed... then the vote could do the wrong way," local politician says

The Trump administration allowed troops to engage in some law enforcement activities and potentially to use deadly force, according to a report by Military Times.

Bitcoin slumped on Tuesday to its lowest this year, tumbling as much as 10 percent to breach $4,300 and taking losses in the world's best-known digital coin to 25 percent within a week.

'Our asylum system is broken'

(THE WEEK) — The United States is a country consumed by anxiety. This has been true for a very long time. But it’s getting worse.

Be honest: You sense it in yourself. The vague mist of worry that always lurks in the background, ebbing and flowing through the day, the sense of creeping inadequacy that prompts you to work ever-harder. You can detect it in the agitated drive to do ever-more to protect those you love from an endless stream of dangers and threats — and in the urge to keep up with friends, acquaintances, and news online during almost every waking moment, perhaps even crowding out sleep, making it impossible to settle down or drive away the subtle sensation of insufficiency.

The post U.S. is 'consumed by anxiety' appeared first on WND.

Walmart is ending its financial support for Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) after video surfaced earlier this month of the senator saying she'd be in the "front row" of a "public hanging" if invited."Hyde-Smith's r...

A top House Democrat on Tuesday said a Congressional committee will investigate Ivanka Trump, U.S. President Donald Trump's daughter and a key White House adviser, following reports that she repeatedly used a personal email account for government business.

Ford made the comments while calling on Trudeau ahead of the federal fall economic update to stop a plan to impose a carbon tax on provinces without their own carbon pricing system.

Markets Insider

Stocks wipe out 2018 gains as FAANG stocks slide into a bear market Markets Insider Wall Street erased gains Tuesday as high-flying technology companies plummeted into a bear market, adding to fears about slowing growth and trade tensions. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped about 2.5% in early trading, nearing a seven-month ... and more »

The November 1 death of Daniel Best, a former pharmaceutical executive in charge of efforts to lower prescription drug prices for the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), has been ruled a suicide, according to the Washington D.C. Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, which noted that Best died of "multiple blunt force injuries," according to Cleveland.com. 

The city's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner on Thursday said Best died from "multiple blunt force injuries" and it ruled his death a suicide. It would not release further information.

In announcing his death, HHS Secretary Alex Azar said the 49-year-old former CVSHealth and Pfizer Pharmaceuticals executive agreed to work at HHS "out of a desire to serve the American people by making health care more affordable." -Cleveland.com

Best, a senior adviser to HHS Secretary Alex Azar, was found "unresponsive" at 5:25 a.m. on Nov. 1 near the garage door exit of a Navy Yard apartment building, which is located approximately a mile south of the Capitol. He was pronounced dead at the scene by medical personnel. 

A drug industry insider, Best worked for over a decade as an executive for several companies, including 12 years at Pfizer, Universal American, MemberHealth and CVS Caremark Corporation, where he made just over $500,000 per year negotiating drug prices for seniors. 

His March appointment drew the ire of President Trump's opponents, who accused his administration of becoming too close with the drug industry. Best was advising Azar - a former pharma executive and lobbyist, on drug pricing. 

"He brought his deep expertise and passion to this task with great humility and collegiality," said Azar in a statement following Best's death. "All of us who served with Dan at HHS and in the administration mourn his passing and extend our thoughts and prayers to his wife Lisa and the entire Best family at this difficult time." 

In May, Stat reported that Best was a seasoned negotiator - however questions remained on "whether he'll advocate for his former colleagues in the PBM world, or if, in the words of a lobbyist, he'll show the public "where the bodies are buried"" 

Best has stepped into the government in the midst of a vicious battle between PBMs and drug makers, each blaming the other for the high cost of prescription drugs. PBMs point out that the drug companies set the price. Drug makers say that PBMs effectively force the prices up through the complex rebate system. Best has an inside view into the situation.

“The most important thing I learned about the PBM industry is that every player serves a critical role in managing this complex system and we wouldn’t be talking about lowering prescription drug prices today unless PBMs had a role to play,” Best said in an email, through an HHS spokesperson. -Stat

Former co-workers described Best as a nice guy, yet tough negotiator according to the Epoch Times: 

"He’s got a real nice personality," said former MemberHealth colleague Chuck Spinelli. "He’s not a jerk, he’s not overbearing. He’s approachable, and pharma liked him. They appreciated working with him. He was very transparent. He was very honest. He didn’t play any games."

Best, who grew up in Erie Pennsylvania, is survived by his wife Lisa and three children. 

Newsweek

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Wants to Replace Columbus Day With Holiday for Election Day Newsweek Congresswoman-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Sunday proposed getting rid of Columbus Day as a holiday and replacing it with a day off for Election Day. It started when Ocasio-Cortez tweeted Saturday night, “how is Columbus Day a holiday but ... In a year of political logos, campaigns of all stripes preferred blueWashington Post Veteran Democrats wary of climate push by Ocasio-Cortez and her alliesPolitico Ocasio-Cortez backs campaign to primary fellow DemocratsPolitico Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez all 126 news articles »

The View praised Fox News anchor Chris Wallace for his tough interview with President Donald Trump that aired on Sunday.

In Monday’s opening segment, the hosts took on Trump’s attacks on Retired Admiral William McRaven, who the president derided as a “Hillary Clinton fan” and said: “Wouldn’t it have been nice if we got Osama Bin Laden a lot sooner than that, wouldn’t it have been nice?”

Sunny Hostin applauded Wallace challenging Trump on his describing the press as the enemy of the people.

In the Fox News Sunday interview, after Trump told Wallace he doesn’t consider his network “fake news,” the anchor told the president that when he calls CNN and the New York Times the enemy of the people, “we’re in solidarity, sir.”

“That was very, very important to note,” Hostin said.

“Good for him,” Behar agreed.

“They’re all in it together,” Hostin said.

Later in the segment, Abby Huntsman, Wallace’s former colleague at Fox, called him a “great journalist” who has “been trying to get that interview for so long.”

Watch above, via ABC.