US Government paid $100,000 to get dirt on Trump, breaking news.

[dennishoddy]

BERLIN — After months of secret negotiations, a shadowy Russian bilked American spies out of $100,000 last year, promising to deliver stolen National Security Agency cyber weapons in a deal that he insisted would also include compromising material on President Trump, according to American and European intelligence officials.

The cash, delivered in a suitcase to a Berlin hotel room in September, was intended as the first installment of a $1 million payout, according to American officials, the Russian and communications reviewed by The New York Times. The theft of the secret hacking tools had been devastating to the N.S.A., and the agency was struggling to get a full inventory of what was missing.

Several American intelligence officials said they made clear that they did not want the Trump material from the Russian, who was suspected of having murky ties to Russian intelligence and to Eastern European cybercriminals. He claimed the information would link the president and his associates to Russia. Instead of providing the hacking tools, the Russian produced unverified and possibly fabricated information involving Mr. Trump and others, including bank records, emails and purported Russian intelligence data.

The United States intelligence officials said they cut off the deal because they were wary of being entangled in a Russian operation to create discord inside the American government. They were also fearful of political fallout in Washington if they were seen to be buying scurrilous information on the president.

The Central Intelligence Agency declined to comment on the negotiations with the Russian seller. The N.S.A., which produced the bulk of the hacking tools that the Americans sought to recover, said only that “all N.S.A. employees have a lifetime obligation to protect classified information.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/09/us/politics/us-cyberweapons-russia-trump.html

 

[D. Hargrove]

So wait, nah forget it.

 

[SdoubleA]

I have sources that have reviewed a portion of the damaging photos.....

 

[SlugSlinger]

Good story Dennis and it plays perfectly into something I just read.

Tammy Bruce: The sins of a bloated, unaccountable government
A Message from NASM

2 days ago

(iStock)

A new audit about a Pentagon agency losing hundreds of millions of dollars is reported by Politico as an “exclusive.” While that’s technically correct, a government agency losing or wasting or misplacing millions, billions and even trillions of dollars (this is not hyperbole, folks) is nothing new.

Politico’s report is a reminder of what bloated, unaccountable government gets you.

“Ernst & Young found that the Defense Logistics Agency failed to properly document more than $800 million in construction projects, just one of a series of examples where it lacks a paper trail for millions of dollars in property and equipment,” Politico reported. “Across the board, its financial management is so weak that its leaders and oversight bodies have no reliable way to track the huge sums it’s responsible for, the firm warned in its initial audit of the massive Pentagon purchasing agent.”

The report describes the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) as the “Walmart” of the military, an entity with 25,000 employees who provide “everything from poultry to pharmaceuticals, precious metals and aircraft parts.”

The problem is, we don’t know where their money goes. The report reveals issues ranging from “misstatements” in the agency’s books, lack of documentation about projects that are in motion, to no documentation at all for $384 million in spending.

What’s even more shocking is the blase response from the agency itself. When contacted by Politico, the agency wasn’t surprised by the conclusion, and insisted it “will overcome its many hurdles to ultimately get a clean audit.”

” ‘The initial audit has provided us with a valuable independent view of our current financial operations,’ Army Lt. Gen. Darrell Williams, the agency’s director, wrote in response to Ernst & Young’s findings. ‘We are committed to resolving the material weaknesses and strengthening internal controls around DLA’s operations.’ “

Wow, while the DLA may treat our money like water, it sure has refined the use of euphemisms. Can you imagine if you were the accountant for a small firm and you explained the $100,000 missing from the books as a “weakness” in your “internal controls,” and expected to get away with it?

But this disaster isn’t unique. The corruption we’ve watched unfold over the FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) warrant scandal presents another side of the same coin: a federal bureaucracy that has grown so massive it “forgets” who it is answerable to and begins to see itself as the living entity to be served.

Bureaucrats in the information business flout the law, as though they’re above it. While those in charge of our money use it like a never-ending water stream, that is unending and belongs to them.

Consider this from The Washington Post in April 2014: “The State Department’s inspector general has warned the department that $6 billion in contracting money over the past six years cannot be properly accounted for and cited ‘significant financial risk and … a lack of internal control.’ “

A litany of problems were documented by WND in 2015, indicating a whopping $8.5 trillion that was unaccounted for by the military since 1996. WND reported some of the spending and accounting problems uncovered at the Pentagon including:

• Pentagon Spends $1 Billion Destroying $16 Billion of Ammo.

• $300 Million a Year Unaccounted for in Afghanistan.

• $1 Billion Paid for Loose Bolts and Damaged Aircraft.

• $700 Million for Afghan Gem Cutters. (You know, to reduce Afghani unemployment).

And this from Forbes in December 2017: “On July 26, 2016, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) issued a report ‘Army General Fund Adjustments Not Adequately Documented or Supported.’ The report indicates that for fiscal year 2015 the Army failed to provide adequate support for $6.5 trillion in journal voucher adjustments.”

These details could give you the idea that funny business with your tax dollars is the exclusive purview of the Pentagon. It’s not. While the military gets its share of scrutiny because of the budget, this is a government-wide issue.

Our problem is based in financial chaos fostered by absurd decision-making and bad management at every agency and throughout our massive, unaccountable bureaucracy. Case in point: The New York Times reported this past Tuesday that FEMA paid $156 million to an Atlanta entrepreneur to provide 30 million meals to the people of Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.

The Times reported that Tiffany Brown, of Tribute Contracting, LLC, had no experience in large-scale disaster relief.

“Ms. Brown described herself in an interview as a government contractor — ‘almost like a broker,’ she said — who does not keep employees or specialize in any field but is able to procure subcontracted work as needed, and get a cut of the money along the way. She claims a fashion line and has several self-published books, and describes herself on Twitter as ‘A Diva, Mogul, Author, Idealist with scars to prove it,’ ” The Times reported.

FEMA finally cancelled the contract after only 50,000 of the 30 million required meals were delivered. Ms. Brown is disputing the termination and seeking $70 million in compensation. This is at least the sixth government contract awarded to Ms. Brown that had to be cancelled, according to The Times.

When the government views the citizen as the servant, we get weaponized law enforcement agencies to be used against us, and law-breaking agency bureaucrats and politicians who see our democracy as an inconvenience to be subverted.

The contempt that allows this corruption to grow also feeds a sloppy carelessness with our money. President Trump has pledged to deal with waste and mismanagement. He’s no doubt realizing our problems are not symptoms of incompetence alone, but a reflection of a dangerous contempt for the people and the republic itself.

This column originally appeared in The Washington Times.

 

[GlockPride]

Drain it, bleach it and cut the head off. Rip the band-aid off and let’s get this crap fixed. I’m tired of my hard earned money going to waste.

 

[ConstitutionCowboy]

Get rid of the Seventeenth Amendment and give the several states back their voice in our federal government. Get rid of the Sixteenth Amendment and that will cut their source of funding back to where all they can afford to do is only that which is outlined in the Constitution. Get rid of Section 4 of the Fourteenth Amendment which will force Congress to think before they spend money dubiously.

Woody

 

[Glocktogo]

A tax revolt is long overdue.

 

[John6185]

And here's another one busted for misappropriation of taxpayer funds: A Republican fro Utah no less.
Staunch Anti-Prostitute Congressman Busted Using Taxpayer Money to Buy Escort
When one is spending someone's money there is no limit what they'll buy.. I hope he has to get Benicin and penicillin shot in both buttocks because I'm sure it isn't the first time. I feel sorry for his family.

 

[Slim Deal]

Actually the Pentagon has been accused of losing 21 TRILLION dollars.

21 Trillion dollars. That is a lot of money, it really is. For this to happen many many of the so called good guys had to look the other way and quite a few higher ups had to make deals with the Satan. It is probably tied in with the Clintons.

 

[Dave70968]

Actually the Pentagon has been accused of losing 21 TRILLION dollars.

21 Trillion dollars. That is a lot of money, it really is. For this to happen many many of the so called good guys had to look the other way and quite a few higher ups had to make deals with the Satan. It is probably tied in with the Clintons.

That's just a touch more than the current (federal) national debt of about $20.63 trillion (source: http://www.usdebtclock.org/ ).

Perspective.