Two days after President Trump met with the mayor of Flint, Michigan, the EPA has executed on legislation signed in December 2016, sending $100 Million in Federal funds to help them recover from the water crisis which began in April of 2014, nearly three years ago. Due to insufficient water treatment and old corroding pipes, over 100,000 residents in the region have been exposed to high levels of lead. Widespread illnesses have been reported, including a spike in waterborne Legionnaire’s Disease – leading to a Federal state of emergency in January of 2016.
The funds were originally authorized on December 16th, 2016 as part of the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act (better late than never, I guess). While Flint water was given a clean bill of health in January – residents have been advised that it will be at least a year before they can drink it, as corroding lead pipes still need to be replaced.
Flint residents will also be provided with water filters for 3 years while the lead pipes are replaced, according to a letter from state officials:
Due to the ongoing lead service line replacement projects this year, filters and filter cartridges will remain available,” read the letter. “Further, filters and cartridges will remain available for residents during the estimated three years it will take to remove the remaining lead and galvanized iron service lines
Trump’s EPA head Scott Pruit had this to say:
The people of Flint and all Americans deserve a more responsive federal government… …the EPA will especially focus on helping Michigan improve Flint’s water infrastructure as part of our larger goal of improving America’s water infrastructure.
The federal award to comes a month after Flint Mayor Karen Weaver’s proposal for spending the money, along with $20 million in matching funds from the state.
“The city of Flint being awarded a grant of this magnitude in such a critical time of need will be a huge benefit,” said Weaver. “As we prepare to start the next phase of the … pipe replacement program, these funds will give us what we need to reach our goal of replacing 6,000 pipes this year and make other needed infrastructure improvements. We look forward to the continued support of the EPA and federal government.” –Mlive.com
If you’re not up to speed on what happened to conservative radio host Michael Savage the other night, here’s the rundown according to the good Doctor:
– Savage was having dinner at a Servino Ristorante in Tiburon, CA around 8:30 PM on Tuesday with his beloved poodle, Teddy.
– Some guy comes out of the restaurant and starts yelling at Savage – mocking his real last name “Hey Weiner! Heeeey Weiner!!!”
– Guy comes up and “sweep” kicks Teddy the dog to the side, then throws Savage to the ground, bloodying the radio host.
– Some bystander broke it up, but was punched in the process.
– Other guy claims 4 year old Savage started it.
– Cops show up, both parties make citizen’s arrest. Cops let both go.
When Savage went on the air yesterday to talk about what happened – one of the first things he mentioned was how disgusting the media’s response was, in particular people in his industry. It was as if nobody believed him; the headlines were all saying “alleged” and “purportedly,” and no prominent conservative radio hosts – including Rush Limbaugh – even mentioned the incident, whereas Savage said he’s defended Limbaugh in the past.
Maybe, just maybe – they thought that since Savage has a book coming out in 11 days he faked it? That’s asinine – they could have at least dropped him a call or an email – like some of his real friends did.
It’s time for globalist errand boy John McCain to hoist up his depends and shuffle off to Casa del Shill. After riding his war veteran status into the ground, like those two planes he crashed, McCain has spent his sunset years playing an elderly deep-state spy; passing a 35 page “dossier” of wild anti-Trump conspiracy theories to the FBI director and gallivanting over to Syria for clandestine meetings with people I’m sure want to see America fail.
In his latest bout of dementia, McCain (R-AZ) suggested that Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is “working for Vladimir Putin” after Paul objected to the nation of Montenegro from NATO – entitling them to US aid when needed – and in particular, committing the USA to war with Russia in the event of conflict between the two nations. McCain asked the senate for a unanimous vote, stating that anyone who objected was “carrying out the desires and ambitions” of Putin – and directly accusing Paul of “working for Vladimir Putin.”
In a statement, Paul objected to the Montenegro vote on the grounds that the US doesn’t need to further obligate itself to yet another nation while we’re currently overburdened around the world.
Currently, the United States has troops in dozens of countries and is actively fighting in Iraq, Syria, Libya, and Yemen (with the occasional drone strike in Pakistan). In addition, the United States is pledged to defend 28 countries in NATO
In a follow-up today on MSNBC’s Morning Joe that perhaps McCain needs to be put out to pasture:
I think he makes a really, really strong case for term limits… …maybe he’s past his prime; I think maybe he’s gotten a little bit unhinged.
Saudi Arabia has been an interesting tap-dance for Donald Trump. During the 2016 election, Wikileaks revealed that the house of Saud heavily contributed to the Clinton Foundation, and reports surfaced that they funded 20% of Clinton’s campaign. It’s clear they had a lot riding on Hillary, some say in the hopes of co-opting the US military into an intervention in Syria to topple President Bashar al-Assad. The plan was regime change – with the goal of installing yet another Western friendly puppet government which would rubber-stamp a lucrative Saudi/Qatar pipeline through the country, exiting into the Mediterranean through Turkey – as opposed to a competing Russian / Iranian / Syrian pipeline.
Wikileaks also revealed that Saudi Arabia and Qatar funded ISIS – which then invaded Syria in an effort to co-opt the Arab spring and topple Assad. Recall that Hillary’s plan was to join ISIS in this fight, starting with the institution of a “no fly” zone which would have put the United States in direct conflict with Russia.
So it’s abundantly clear that Hillary Clinton was set to use United States military assets at the behest of Saudi Arabia – first for regime change in Syria, and then in Saudi Arabia’s confict with Yemen as the next logical target. It also emerged that Hillary’s right hand woman Huma Abedin has had ties to the Muslim Brotherhood which still haven’t been investigated. Note that turncoat shill John McCain chastised Rep. Michele Bachman (R-MN) for pointing this out – which should tell you something. In addition, a former Muslim Brotherhood member turned peace activist, Walid Shoebat said in an interview with Front Page Magazine:
The Abedins for decades were actually serving a foreign entity, the government of Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Islamic Affairs, and not American Democracy as President Obama stated. -FrontPage
So – given the Saudi / Clinton connection, many found it surprising that Donald Trump didn’t touch on much of it during the election. Instead, he harped on the fact that the wealthy oil nation doesn’t “pay their fair share” for US troops in the region, and criticized the Saudis for not accepting Islamic Syrian refugees over concerns of terrorism. Going back in time to January of 2016, Trump stated that he would prefer to “protect Saudi Arabia” in order to maintain regional supremacy over Iran – despite the Saudis’ notoriously deplorable treatment of women and gays.
Lo and belh0ld, we may have our answer as to why; President Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu in mid-February, where they discussed a coalition which included Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the UAE, Bahrain, Oman and Jordan – assembled to fight the Islamic State and curtail Iran’s regional ambitions. So Israel is now bedfellows with less aggressive Islamic nations in order to prevent Iran from nuking Tel Aviv, and Donald Trump and the USA have been roped into it.
It would also appear that in exchange for US support – Netanyahu agreed to Israel backing off of Palestinian settlements, with Donald Trump citing the need for the Israelis to “show some flexibility.” During a joint press conference, trump mentioned a peace deal in the works – though details were scant:
But Bibi and I have known each other a long time — a smart man, great negotiator. And I think we’re going to make a deal. It might be a bigger and better deal than people in this room even understand. That’s a possibility. So let’s see what we do. –WH
This would suggest that Trump’s asking price for joining Israel’s coalition is that Israel lay off Palestine – which President Obama implicitly demanded in late 2016 when the US abstained from a veto of a UN demand that Israel cease settlements. If, as some have suggested, the United States has been Israel’s puppet for some time – these recent moves by Trump and Obama could be interpreted as rebellious acts.
In an interesting gesture of goodwill yesterday from the house of Saud, Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman called Trump a “true friend of Muslims,” claiming that the US President’s immigration ban does not target Islam. A Trump senior advisor described the meeting as follows:
Although Washington and Riyadh had previously “undergone a difference of opinion,” the Tuesday meeting “put things on the right track, and marked a significant shift in relations.”
“Saudi Arabia does not believe that this measure is targeting Muslim countries or the religion of Islam”
Meanwhile – despite Trump and the Saudi deputy Crown Prince’s notably cordial meeting in the White House on Tuesday, in perhaps yet another act of rebellion against the Israeli / Saudi / et al. coalition, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson gave the UN an ultimatum; the US will leave the UN Human Rights Council unless they reform – kicking human rights violators such as China, Egypt, and recently added Saudi Arabia off the council. Interesting.
So on one hand the USA is now roped into a coalition with Saudi Arabia and Israel in order to keep Iran in check, and on the other hand, we are now demanding the UN punish the house of Saud by kicking them off the Human Rights Council.
Perhaps Trump is playing ball with Netanyahu in the mutual interest of crippling Iran’s ability to develop nuclear weapons? Maybe he’s using the UN Human Rights Council ultimatum as a way to protest Saudi Arabia while maintaining pressure on Iran? Or could it be that Trump knows the UN won’t kick any of the those countries off the corrupt and highly politicized Human Rights Council – giving the United States justification to completely sever ties with the organization.
Wherever the truth lies, there are several dimensions to this chess game.
President Trump, through the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has issued his administration’s America FirstBudget Blueprint (available here in PDF form, or a pastebin text version thx to Voat user Crankypants15). This is known as the “skinny budget,” as it only represents topline cuts, whereas Trump’s full economic and tax projections will come in May.
For reference, the Federal government will spend approximately $4 trillion next year. A little over 2/3 of that goes toward Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, poverty assistance, and payments on government debt – and will not be touched. The remaining 1/3 is known as discretionary spending, which include various Federal agencies – and is what the “blueprint” covers. Trump’s OMB director Mick Mulvaney is in charge of the process of fulfilling Trump’s campaign promises:
“We wrote it using the president’s own words,” he said. “We turned those policies into numbers.”
Here’s what Trump wants you to take away from this proposal:
What it doesn’t mention are all the cuts – which can be seen below.
Keep in mind, what Trump is proposing and the final budget will undoubtedly be two vastly different documents – as congress and it’s lobbyist “friends” will consider each cut with the most special of interests, but consider this Trump’s idea of draining the swamp:
Yeah, I know – the poor spotted dicked harvest mice will die out, global warming will consume the planet, the State Department will have to give their spies recycled piano wire garrotes and it’s despot bribe budget is getting slashed, you’re being asked to stop worrying and love the bomb, and America’s children will grow up stupider and unlearn’t without Sesame Street. To add insult to injury, boring liberals who don’t satisfy their wives will have to do without monotone NPR hosts at the end of their groundhog day drive home from work. It’s all so terrible!
Maybe…
OR, perhaps the system has become bloated, inefficient, and over encumbered with bureaucratic redundancy and waste by an army of Federal employees who are overcompensated for B-string output, and perhaps the United States gives too much money to foreign governments. Maybe the US budget is full of rampant cronyism which should end. And perhaps the best offense is a good defense – or something like that. This is draining the swamp, at home and abroad.
Party’s over Federal slackers, no more hanging out at the unlimited coffee machine. No more ergonomic assessments and Herman Miller chairs. Say goodbye to those fancy full-spectrum antidepressant fluorescent lights – it’s back to the sterile eye zappers with the constant buzz in the back of your skull. This country is about to be run like an almost bankrupt business…
Trump campaigned on all of the above, so none of this should come as a surprise. And before we talk war – consider that Trump’s entire argument is for scaring the shit out of our enemies through a strong military defense, while he often criticized unnecessary conflicts. Walk softly and carry a big war machine of death. Also – as you read the headlines today, keep in mind this is what Trump proposing in terms of military spending:
The MSM is already spinning this as Trump forsaking humanity while preparing the US for WWIII:
So, how can you possibly make money on some of that beefed up military spending?
Let’s take a look at a recycled post I made during the election with a list of military contractors (assuming a Hillary win and WWIII over Syria) – most of which are up considerably since my Nov. 7th post. Turns out the military industrial complex always wins in the end, much like Fly. They have orbital space cannons in common, after all.
If you saw my post on this in November, you can stop reading here. Also, if you’re not a subscriber to Exodus – get off your piker ass and sign up so you can run these companies through all the fun tools to help make your decision. Not my fault if you lose money, do your own homework, and never trust a man with two first names – of which I am not (Paul Ryan, for example).
M109A7 155mm Paladin Self-Propelled Howitzer Artillery System
This little puppy is an upgrade to the M109A7 Paladin used in Kuwait. BAE was awarded a $245.3 Million contract in 2015 for the first order of 66 units, with anexpected rollout of 580 vehicle sets (M109A7 + M99283 ammunition carrier combo).
The Paladin M109A7 next-generation artillery system being manufactured by BAE Systems is a significant upgrade to the combat-proven M109A6 Paladin cannon artillery system. The enhanced artillery system offers key fire-support for a variety of potential combat missions conducted by the US Army’s Armored Brigade Combat Teams (ABCTs) in conventional, hybrid, irregular and counterinsurgency combat environments.
The US Army awarded a $688m contract to BAE Systems in October 2013 for the production of Paladin M109A7 artillery systems, with an option to procure a total of 66 vehicle sets including a self-propelled howitzer and an ammunition resupply vehicle. The artillery system was inducted into low rate initial production (LRIP) in May 2014, while full rate production is expected to commence in 2017.
Last month BAE was awarded a $600 Million contract by the US Navy to build laser guided rockets, and are expected to produce up to 20,000 APKWSTM units / year.
Type 26 Gun System
BAE was awarded a $245 Million contract in July to develop the Maritime Indirect Fires System (MIFS) for the UK’s Type 26 Global Combat Ship.
The MQ-88B Fire Scout is a cute little helicopter of death, able to perform reconnaissance as well as deliver munitions.
Northrop Grumman’s battle-proven, unmanned vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft system MQ-8B Fire Scout is designed to deliver intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (ISTAR), aerial fire support, laser designation and battle management services to tactical military operators. The Fire Scout can be deployed from any air-capable vessel or land base in support of ground, air and sea forces.
BACN: Battlefield Airborne Communications Node
Northrop Grumman’s Battlefield Airborne Communications Node is deployed on the EQ-4B Global Hawk and Bombardier E-11A Global Express
After landing a $782 Million contract in 2006 and a successful deployment in Afghanistan, Northrop is in the catbird’s seat for their airborne communications system in future conflicts.
BACN is a high-altitude, airborne communications gateway that translates and distributes imagery, video, voice and data, often from disparate elements, enhancing situational awareness, communications and coordination for warfighters in the air and on the ground. The system can act as a high-altitude relay and has been used for missions such as airdrop and airstrike operations.
Long Range Strike Bomber: Upcoming And Super Secret!
In the largest contract since James Comey’s Lockheed Martin won the Joint Strike Fighter deal, Grumman will be developing the new Long Range Strike Bomber for the US Air Force. The program is expected to exceed $55 Billion.
Northrop’s win is a game-changer for the aerospace company, which is currently the sixth-largest defense contractor, behind Lockheed and Boeing. With the contract in hand, Northrop will no longer struggle to retain its grip on the combat aircraft market. Not only does the bomber contract boost Northrop’s aviation capital, it also likely keeps the company’s Palmdale, California, facility afloat. –Defense News
Raytheon is a scary, scary company. They are currently working on their $174 Million award to develop a hypersonic missile, a $178 Million contract with the Navy for their SeaSparrow defense system, and a $255 Million contract to develop an automated landing system for drones and manned aircraft. They also make the ASPIS II system which allows for an interconnected flight squadron that can coordinate data. Aside from these, Raytheon will have this cute and highly adaptable system on the ground in any future conflicts:
BGM-71 TOW – Tube Launched, optically-tracked, bunker buster (equippable) long range heavy munitions system.
This little bottle rocket is used around the world to fuck shit up, massively. From Raytheon’s description:
The tube-launched, optically-tracked, wireless-guided (TOW®) Weapon System, with the multi-mission TOW 2A, TOW 2B Aero and TOW Bunker Buster missiles, is the premier long-range, heavy assault-precision anti-armor, anti-fortification and anti-amphibious landing weapon system used throughout the world today.
The TOW 2A, TOW 2B Aero and TOW Bunker Buster missiles can be fired from all TOW launchers – including the Improved Target Acquisition Systems (ITAS), Stryker anti-tank guided missile vehicle (modified ITAS) and Bradley Fighting Vehicles (Improved Bradley Acquisition Subsystem).
With its extended range performance, the TOW Weapon System is the long-range precision, heavy anti-tank and assault weapon system of choice for the U.S. Army Stryker, Bradley Fighting Vehicle, ITAS High-Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle and Light Armored Vehicle-Anti-tank platforms. The TOW weapon system will be in service with the U.S. military beyond 2050.
SAIC has been intimately involved with the US Government since Robert “Bob” Beyster founded the company in 1969. After an internal coup in 2013 led to the ouster of Beyster and the splitting up of the company, SAIC stock has skyrocketed. They have their hands in so many pots through their “line organization” subsidiaries that it’s probably appropriate to call them a military defense conglomerate. You can thumb through their current press releases to see what the fuck they’ve been up to recently, but suffice to say – if the USA is going “all in” over Syria, SAIC will be along for the ride.
They make software and other nerdy shit, so no cool pictures of unclassified stuff.
During Hillary Clinton’s tenure as Secretary of State, General Dynamics was awarded a $2.2 Billion contract to handle supply chain management for the State Department. Additionally, just last month they were awarded a $900 Million USSOCOM (US Special Ops Command):
Under the terms of the contract, GD said it will provide USSOCOM forces and staff with technical and management support around the globe. GD also stated all work under the contract will be completed by ARMA Global, a subsidiary of GD’s information technology business segment.
Furthermore, GD noted it will deliver “engineering and technical services for major weapon systems, program technical assistance, support systems requirements and assist with production decision-making and program controls” as part of the agreement.
General Dynamics also makes the following hardware:
Stryker Dragoon 8-wheel drive troop transport:
The Stryker is the US Military’s premiere troop transport system, and it has been heavily upgraded recently for anticipated conflict. As Breakingdefense.com highlights:
The armored eight-wheel-drive troop transport, built by General Dynamics and normally armed with no more than a 0.50 calibre (12.7 millimeter) machinegun in an unprotected mount, has been rebuilt with an armored turret containing a 30 mm quickfiring cannon.
That’s enough firepower, the Army computes, to dispose of other lightly armored vehicles like the Russian BMP troop carrier. If the Russians invade the Baltics, the Stryker Dragoon can’t stop their heavy tanks, but it can thin out their scout vehicles and transports, allowing American M1 tanks to focus their 120 mm firepower on the heaviest targets.
Hydra-70 air-to-ground Rocket System
Used heavily in Afghanistan, the Hydra 70 rocket is a 2.75-inch fin-stabilized unguided rocket used primarily in the air-to-ground role. It can be equipped with a variety of warheads, and in more recent versions, guidance systems for point attacks. The Hydra is widely used by US and allied forces, competing with the Canadian CRV-7 which is physically interchangeable. -Wikipedia
You’ll note that Lockheed Martin still isn’t on the list, mostly because I doubt their ability to turn the $1.45 trillion F-35 JSF program around per their deal with Trump.
FEEL FREE TO INCLUDE YOUR OWN IDEAS IN THE COMMENTS SECTION…
Carbon Fiber stocks? Armor manufacturers? Other logistics?
Stephen Colbert does great impressions, my favorite being a nuclear explosion. Considering how epic Rachel Maddow’s fail was Tuesday night when she revealed that President Trump is rich and pays a ton of taxes, proving his detractors wrong – it’s no surprise she’s being thrown solidly under the bus by Salon, CNBC, and now…
Rachel Maddow and NBC just gave an incredibly generous gift to Donald Trump; revealing Hillary Clinton and other democrats to have been full of shit with their repeated assertions that he pays no taxes – when in fact he paid $38 Million on $150 million of income in 2005 – a 25% tax rate (compared to Bernie Sanders’ 13.5% on over $200k of income in 2014).
Not to mention, that kind of income from 12 years ago suggests he’s most likely a billionaire – another failed jab at Trump from camp Clinton.
And let me get this straight – this “tax expert” and investigative journalist – David Cay Johnson (a former New York Times employee) found these two pages of Trump’s 2005 return in his mailbox, passed them to MSNBC and Maddow – who sat on them for several days before last night’s debacle… and nobody thought to run them past another tax expert? Perhaps a smart person who might have thought of a few angles like Tyler at ZeroHedge – who casually dropped the above tweet minutes after Maddow destroyed her career?
Johnson kicked off his cigarette stained diatribe with the suggestion that it may have been Donald Trump who leaked the returns which he states “Came in the mail, over the transom.”
Apparently during the same several days leading up to the segment, David Johnson and everyone at NBC also overlooked the giant CLIENT COPY stamp on the first page – suggesting that Donald Trump, if true, didn’t even have to bust out his chess set for these clowns.
Granted, anyone who handled the “client copy” of Trump’s tax returns could have snagged a copy – from an IRS employee, to an intern at the offices of Trump’s CPA – but the thought that Trump trolled the MSM once again is simply too fun not to consider.
Reactions have been entertaining:
So, Rachel Maddow’s professional career committed suicide live on national TV tonight. #TrumpTaxReturns
(Apparently some people don’t understand that income ≠ net worth)
GETTING TO HANNITY:
Sean Hannity devoted his opening monologue last night to MSNBC and Rachel Maddow’s debacle, segueing into what he called “NBC’s Corporate Jihad” against Donald Trump:
They’re the leaders of this alt-left propaganda, “destroy Trump at all costs” media. And now releasing this 2005 tax return, it proves that they will do anything – spin any conspiracy, to destroy the Commander in Chief – including working with people clearly that have broken the law.
Hannity then played a montage of egregiously biased MSM hit-pieces against then candidate Trump in an effort to smear him before the election.
What Rachel Maddow did tonight… …was a pathetic, conspiratorial attempt to smear the President.
It was sort of like an SNL skit, but actually better. And with her trying to piece all these conspiracy pieces together, claiming in 2005 a Russian Oligarch knew that Trump was going to be the President in 2016, so he bought a property in Florida and Trump made a big profit…
Let me get this straight… Russia knew in 2005 that Trump would be President in 2016… This is the Twilight Zone.
NBC is not news. It is deep-state Obama propaganda television.
Rachel Maddow almost looked uncomfortable presenting the lead-in to tonight’s “bombshell” on Trump’s tax returns. She knew it was about to be one of the most epic ghost loads in television; publishing two pages of Trump’s 2005 tax return, the first page of which had already been leaked to the New York Times. In exposing the 12 year old snippets, Maddow inadvertently revealed a few things that make Trump look pretty good:
1. He paid a way higher tax rate than Mitt Romney, Bernie Sanders, and Obama (at 18.7%).
2. He paid higher taxes than Comcast (24%) – which owns MSNBC – the same network that hosts tax cheat “Rev.” Al Sharpton and 8 others with IRS liens against them.
3. Hillary Clinton was TOTALLY WRONG when she said Trump was avoiding releasing his taxes to hide “that he’s paid nothing in Federal taxes”
4. The left has NOTHING on Trump – if this is the best they’ve got. Maddow’s entire lead-in was trying to insinuate all sorts of things about Trump’s business ties overseas (old news), and even went so far as to imply that Preet Bharara was fired for investigating Trump.
In the words of Bob Dylan (perhaps the only song he didn’t steal) “when you ain’t got nothing, you got nothing to lose” – and the song is about a lying, cheating whore who gets what she deserves and ends up lonely in the end.
Mark Dice may have put it best:
It took over 30 years for someone to top @GeraldoRivera for biggest over-hyped live TV epic fail in history. You did it Rachel Maddow !
Almost six months after the NYT leaked Trump’s 1995 tax return, Nick Kristoff encouraged IRS employees to break the law:
But if you're in IRS and have a certain president's tax return that you'd like to leak, my address is: NYT, 620 Eighth Ave, NY NY 10018. https://t.co/ujYe100Tn9
During today’s White House press conference, press secretary Sean Spicer was asked about demands made by congress for proof of President Trump’s claims that Obama “wiretapped” him during the election, in light of a one week extension granted yesterday to the Justice Department to produce evidence of surveillance. The Trump administration has taken heat since the President’s March 4th tweet, which was likely in reference to evidence gathered against three members of the Trump campaign – as reported by the NY Times in January – surveillance which found no evidence of collusion with the Kremlin.
Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my "wires tapped" in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!
Yesterday, Spicer broadened the scope of Trump’s claim – suggesting that the phrase “wiretapping” (in quotes) was not meant to be taken literally.
“He doesn’t really think that President Obama went up and tapped his phone personally….
…”wiretapping” [makes air quotes] spans a whole host of surveillance types of options”
Earlier today when asked about the extension granted by the House Intelligence Committee, as well as whether or not Trump’s Department of Justice has any evidence, Spicer repeatedly deferred – stating that he didn’t want to get ahead of the DOJ, however he did reveal the following:
Spicer: He’s extremely confident. I’ll let the DOJ report this, but as I’ve commented in the past, there’s been significant reporting about surveillance techniques that existed during the 2016 election.
Reporter: [is it] possible may be nothing?
Spicer: No, at least from where we stand, we know that there is significant reporting on the subject.
Reporter: Something will be presented?
Reporter: Yeah, I feel very confident of that.
Another reporter asked Spicer if the President believes “microwaves” are spying on him – alluding to a statement made by Trump Advisor Kellyanne Conway over the weekend referring to an article which referred to smart electronic devices, such as phones, television sets, and microwaves – which could be used as surveillance tools. She was clearly discussing the revelations from Wikileaks’ “Vault 7” release last week, which detailed the CIA’s available methods of surveillance – including Samsung smart TV’s.
Spicer: I think there’s pretty sound evidence that the Microwave is not a sound way of surveilling someone, and I think that was cleaned up. It was made in jest – so, I think we can put that to rest..
Perhaps Kellyanne was thinking of this 2012 article in Wired in which former CIA Director David Petraeus said that “smart devices” such as dishwashers and other appliances could be used to spy on people.
Whatever the case, it’s now clear that the DOJ is assembling actual evidence of the wiretapping claims, to be presented to the House Intelligence Committee on Monday, March 20th.
