rawstory--2020-01-12--Fox News anchor gets busted touching co-host’s knee on live TV

Fox News guest host Dean Cain was caught on Sunday patting his co-host ’ s knee on live TV .
@ @ @ @ @ was segueing from a segment about Iran to news about Britain ’ s royal family @ @ @ @ @ segment , he patted Lisa Marie Boothe on the knee .
“ Let ’ s @ @ @ @ @ said as he looked down at Boothe ’ s legs .
“ Don ’ t @ @ @ @ @ said of her interest in the royal family .
“ This is very interesting to @ @ @ @ @ host Gretchen Carlson alleged that she was sexually also harassed while anchoring the Fox & @ @ @ @ @ video below from Fox News .

Fox News guest host Dean Cain was caught on Sunday patting his co-host's knee on live TV.
The incident occurred as Cain was segueing from a segment about Iran to news about Britain's royal family.
As Dean introduced the segment, he patted Lisa Marie Boothe on the knee.
"Let's us pivot," Dean said as he looked down at Boothe's legs.
"You pivot," he added, patting her knee.
"Don't judge me," Boothe said of her interest in the royal family. "This is very interesting to me."
Former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson alleged that she was sexually harassed while anchoring the Fox & Friends program.
Watch the video below from Fox News.


rawstory--2020-01-12--CNN’s Tapper puts Defense Secretary Esper on the spot over Trump claim four embassies were targeted

Defense Secretary Mark Esper was put on the spot on Sunday morning by CNN host Jake Tapper who pressed him over President Donald Trump ’ s claims that four embassies were targeted by Iran military leader Qassem Suleimani before he was killed .
“ Was there specific intelligence that he was plotting to attack four U.S. embassies ?
Did you see any intelligence like that ?
” Tapper asked .
“ I ’ m not going to discuss intelligence matters here on the show , ” Esper curtly replied .
“ But the president did though , ” the CNN @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said is that he believed and said he could have been targeting , all of those things that I believe as well , ” the Trump administration official replied .
“ The important thing is this .
Suleimani orchestrated , resourced , directed the attacks escalating up to December one that killed an American .
He orchestrated the siege on the embassy in Baghdad and he was planning this much broader plot in multiple countries that would be bigger in scale and likely would have taken us to open hostility with Iran.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thing as ‘ there was evidence , ’ ” Tapper shot back , before adding , “ I mean , you could believe that Soleimani would have attacked the Eiffel Tower , that ’ s not necessarily based in evidence.
” “ There was evidence that part of the attack would be against a United States embassy in Baghdad , ” was all the defense secretary offered .

Defense Secretary Mark Esper was put on the spot on Sunday morning by CNN host Jake Tapper who pressed him over President Donald Trump's claims that four embassies were targeted by Iran military leader Qassem Suleimani before he was killed.
“Was there specific intelligence that he was plotting to attack four U.S. embassies? Did you see any intelligence like that?” Tapper asked.
“I’m not going to discuss intelligence matters here on the show,” Esper curtly replied.
“But the president did though,” the CNN host pressed.
“What the president said is that he believed and said he could have been targeting, all of those things that I believe as well,” the Trump administration official replied. “The important thing is this. Suleimani orchestrated, resourced, directed the attacks escalating up to December one that killed an American. He orchestrated the siege on the embassy in Baghdad and he was planning this much broader plot in multiple countries that would be bigger in scale and likely would have taken us to open hostility with Iran.”
“A belief is not the same thing as ‘there was evidence,'” Tapper shot back, before adding, "I mean, you could believe that Soleimani would have attacked the Eiffel Tower, that’s not necessarily based in evidence.”
“There was evidence that part of the attack would be against a United States embassy in Baghdad,” was all the defense secretary offered.
Watch below:


rawstory--2020-01-12--Trump launches wild accusation John Kerry funded ‘Middle East Rampage’ terrorist attacks on US

President Donald Trump is watching Fox News on Sunday morning and took a cue from host Peter Hegseth to accuse @ @ @ @ @ Kerry of funding terrorism against the U.S .
According to the president , “ John @ @ @ @ @ that funds given ridiculously to Iran were used to fund attacks on the USA .
@ @ @ @ @ have given that 150 Billion Dollars Plus to Iran .
They then went on a @ @ @ @ @ foxandfriends @ PeteHegseth ” You can see the tweet below :

"Chaos agent," said Vance simply. "He is an agent of chaos, and I think his whole career is kind of going from one disaster to another, and distracting attention from the last disaster, moving to another, but being happy that he's in attention. Right now, politically, he's completely consumed all the airtime on the Republican nomination for president even while he's being indicted."
POLL: Should Trump be allowed to run for office?
"How does that play out in a courtroom, or in a legal battle with him?" Cooper pressed him.
"Well, I think what it means, first and foremost for the judges in this case is, how do you manage a man like Donald Trump as a defendant?" said Vance. "An average defendant who has said what he said, who has done what he's done, under indictment, would be hauled back into court and threatened with contempt, incarceration, or a huge fine. None of those things necessarily are dissuading factors for Donald Trump. Again, I'm speculating, but were he to be put in jail on contempt for doing something as stupid as his picture with him and a bat and D.A. [Alvin] Bragg's picture right next to him — clearly intimidating, but were he to be put in Rikers Island, I honestly think he'd probably use it as a mechanism to, you know, to excite his crowd."
"No judge has really — and this is unprecedented. So there is no judge who has experience with a character like this," said Cooper.
"No, I don't think ever with a character like this," Vance agreed. "But clearly, the judges that are involved are experienced, and I think they all, bottom line, are going to really need to control their courtroom. They need to be the manager, to set expectations of decorum and what is responsible behavior and what is irresponsible behavior. And they need to hold the former president to account ... ultimately I think these judges are going to make it work."
Watch the video below or at the link.


rawstory--2020-01-12--Trump launches new attack on ‘Crazy Nancy’ Pelosi and Schiff in rage tweet over impeachment hearings

Donald Trump was off and running on Twitter on Sunday morning , begging ABC host George Stephanopoulos to grill House @ @ @ @ @ ) over the impeachment hearings and make her turn on fellow California Democrat , Adam @ @ @ @ @ , he also called the impeachment hearings “ unfair ” although the White House refused @ @ @ @ @ president .
“ George @ GStephanopoulos , ask Crazy Nancy why she allowed Adam “ @ @ @ @ @ make up my conversation with the Ukrainian President & read his false words to Congress @ @ @ @ @ though I said it ?
He got caught !
Ask why hearing was most unfair @ @ @ @ @ ” he wrote .


rawstory--2020-01-12--Rick Wilson drops the hammer on the Trump kids in a brutal column warning of a ‘Trumpian’ political

Rick Wilson drops the hammer on the Trump kids in a brutal column warning of a ‘Trumpian’ political dynasty

In his typically blunt fashion , Republican consultant Rick Wilson claims the U.S. will never be rid of the Trump family if the president survives his impeachment trial and is re-elected in 2020 .
Getting right to the point in his Daily Beast column , Wilson writes , “ Eight years of Trump sucks , right ?
It ’ s terrible , isn ’ t it ?
I mean , it can ’ t get worse , right ?
Right ?
Oh , you cockeyed optimists.
” Adding , “ If he wins in 2020 , we ’ re never @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Wilson said the re-election of Trump will guarantee , “ the rise of the Imperial Trumps , a family cult built on the remains of the moldering corpse of the GOP , featuring all the warmth of North Korea ’ s Kim dynasty and a kind of Hapsburg-jawed je ne sais dumbf*ck rien.
” “ Get ready for Donald Trump Jr. , a man who speaks the fluent assh*le dialogue of the own-the-libs Trump Party , to rise to the top of the 2024 GOP primary ranks .
The dynastic talk that was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by me ) is already growing around both Don Jr. and Ivanka .
Poor Eric is left out , but then again , he always has been , ” he continued .
As Wilson sees it , the Trump family has found a personal goldmine by inhabiting the Oval Office , allowing them to funnel money into the family coffers with no restraints — least of all from fellow Republicans .
“ The Trump family—including the creepy automaton Jared Kushner—will continue to view the American government not as a sacred trust but as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nation-state-level grifting , ” he wrote .
“ By the fall of 2019 , it was clear that Trump had even managed to suborn the military into spending money that benefited his resorts and golf clubs when stories broke of Air Force cargo flights to the Middle East making unusual stops at his golf resort in Scotland for hotel accommodations and fuel.
” “ The ambition that drives the Trump spawn these days is powerful , and the corruption and collapse of the GOP as a party will enable their dynastic fantasies to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ country .
The Orange Kardashians will have the brand power of Trump , as well as the shameless hucksterism of Fox and the degraded conservative media , behind them , ” he continued .
“ Mark my words , even the “ respectable ” elements of the conservative media will soon be producing think pieces on why Don Jr. is the bridge from raw Trumpism to a smoother , smarter populist nationalism.
” Wilson then took on each of the president ’ s kids one at a time .
“ Ivanka , though @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to shape an image of the smart , Aspen- and TED-Talk-friendly modern technocrat who just happens to be the daughter of the warlord .
I once had a ‘ serious journalist ’ with robust access to the Trumps tell me , ‘ She stops so many bad things .
She ’ s a net positive.
’ Bro .
Just because Ivanka calls you and says , ‘ I ’ m stopping bad things ’ doesn ’ t make it so , but like her father , she knows how easily duped the media @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unwelcome at a number of events where she tried to run with the big dogs of world affairs , sparking an # UnwantedIvanka hashtag that ran wild on social media .
She drew grumbles and cold shoulders from other world leaders offended that the adult child of a reality-star president was treating them as props in the drama of her personal ambitions.
” The he turned his focus on Don Jr. “ Don Jr. might as well have a Pepe back tattoo , given how beloved he is by the alt-right and how @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the assorted race-war flotsam that follows his father , ” he explained .
“ He ’ s already teased about running for governor of New York or mayor of New York City , but a better bet will be a quickie relocation to Montana or some other state , at least nominally , before he launches his political career .
Junior has spent a lot of time on the campaign trail and has learned the ropes .
Expect to see him at the center of the Trump efforts in 2020 and as a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Even Eric the Wide-Gummed and Tiffany have been dragged along for some of the high-profile state visits and glam events .
Trump wants to maximize the reach of the brand , even for the children he loves the least .
This is how real dynastic politics come to America , not with a bang but a reality show , ” he wrote , adding , “ Yes , the Imperial Trumps are here to stay .
Get ready for four years of the right-wing press writing strained profiles of the Strange New Respect @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and how the first woman Republican president might not be Nikki Haley but rather the deceptively smart and successful fashion icon supermom Ivanka Trump , who is surprisingly down-to-earth .
They ’ ll “ discover ” she has an easy , self-deprecating sense of humor.
” “ One other factor about the soon-to-be endless presence of Trumps in our lives : They ’ re breeding like rabbits , so if we don ’ t play our cards right now , they ’ ll have enough offspring to get a majority in the U.S. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
You can read more here ( subscription required ) .

In his typically blunt fashion, Republican consultant Rick Wilson claims the U.S. will never be rid of the Trump family if the president survives his impeachment trial and is re-elected in 2020.
Getting right to the point in his Daily Beast column, Wilson writes, "Eight years of Trump sucks, right? It’s terrible, isn’t it? I mean, it can’t get worse, right? Right? Oh, you cockeyed optimists."
Adding, "If he wins in 2020, we’re never getting rid of these dolts," Wilson said the re-election of Trump will guarantee, "the rise of the Imperial Trumps, a family cult built on the remains of the moldering corpse of the GOP, featuring all the warmth of North Korea’s Kim dynasty and a kind of Hapsburg-jawed je ne sais dumbf*ck rien."
"Get ready for Donald Trump Jr., a man who speaks the fluent assh*le dialogue of the own-the-libs Trump Party, to rise to the top of the 2024 GOP primary ranks. The dynastic talk that was once treated as a joke (even by me) is already growing around both Don Jr. and Ivanka. Poor Eric is left out, but then again, he always has been," he continued.
As Wilson sees it, the Trump family has found a personal goldmine by inhabiting the Oval Office, allowing them to funnel money into the family coffers with no restraints -- least of all from fellow Republicans.
"The Trump family—including the creepy automaton Jared Kushner—will continue to view the American government not as a sacred trust but as an ATM for their crapulous enterprises and nation-state-level grifting," he wrote. "By the fall of 2019, it was clear that Trump had even managed to suborn the military into spending money that benefited his resorts and golf clubs when stories broke of Air Force cargo flights to the Middle East making unusual stops at his golf resort in Scotland for hotel accommodations and fuel."
"The ambition that drives the Trump spawn these days is powerful, and the corruption and collapse of the GOP as a party will enable their dynastic fantasies to play out with real consequences for the country. The Orange Kardashians will have the brand power of Trump, as well as the shameless hucksterism of Fox and the degraded conservative media, behind them," he continued. "Mark my words, even the “respectable” elements of the conservative media will soon be producing think pieces on why Don Jr. is the bridge from raw Trumpism to a smoother, smarter populist nationalism."
Wilson then took on each of the president's kids one at a time.
"Ivanka, though never accepted in Washington, still hopes to shape an image of the smart, Aspen- and TED-Talk-friendly modern technocrat who just happens to be the daughter of the warlord. I once had a 'serious journalist' with robust access to the Trumps tell me, 'She stops so many bad things. She’s a net positive.' Bro. Just because Ivanka calls you and says, 'I’m stopping bad things' doesn’t make it so, but like her father, she knows how easily duped the media can be. Her presence was deeply unwelcome at a number of events where she tried to run with the big dogs of world affairs, sparking an #UnwantedIvanka hashtag that ran wild on social media. She drew grumbles and cold shoulders from other world leaders offended that the adult child of a reality-star president was treating them as props in the drama of her personal ambitions."
The he turned his focus on Don Jr.
"Don Jr. might as well have a Pepe back tattoo, given how beloved he is by the alt-right and how frequently he boosts the social-media posts of the assorted race-war flotsam that follows his father," he explained. "He’s already teased about running for governor of New York or mayor of New York City, but a better bet will be a quickie relocation to Montana or some other state, at least nominally, before he launches his political career. Junior has spent a lot of time on the campaign trail and has learned the ropes. Expect to see him at the center of the Trump efforts in 2020 and as a constant presence on social media."
"Even Eric the Wide-Gummed and Tiffany have been dragged along for some of the high-profile state visits and glam events. Trump wants to maximize the reach of the brand, even for the children he loves the least. This is how real dynastic politics come to America, not with a bang but a reality show," he wrote, adding, "Yes, the Imperial Trumps are here to stay. Get ready for four years of the right-wing press writing strained profiles of the Strange New Respect that Ivanka is generating among conservatives, and how the first woman Republican president might not be Nikki Haley but rather the deceptively smart and successful fashion icon supermom Ivanka Trump, who is surprisingly down-to-earth. They’ll “discover” she has an easy, self-deprecating sense of humor."
"One other factor about the soon-to-be endless presence of Trumps in our lives: They’re breeding like rabbits, so if we don’t play our cards right now, they’ll have enough offspring to get a majority in the U.S. Senate before long," he concluded.
You can read more here (subscription required).


rawstory--2020-01-12--Giuliani’s latest proposal to halt Trump impeachment dismissed as ‘downright impossible’

Sunday morning an MSNBC analyst poured cold water on a proposal from former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani that Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts use his authority and dismiss the impeachment trial of Donald Trump before it even begins .
Appearing on Fox News on Saturday night , Giuliani — who serves as a legal advisor to the president — suggested Roberts could , at the behest of the GOP leadership , call off the trial of the president .
According to Giuliani , “ All it says is in the Senate , it says there shall be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the chief justice presides .
What happens at the beginning of trial very often ?
The defense lawyer stands up and says , ‘ your honor , I move for the dismissal of the indictment because it fails to state a crime.
’ The chief justice will be given the power to dismiss .
If we do go to a trial , he ’ ll [ Trump ] get acquitted .
I could even argue that politically it would be better to go to trial.
” Asked to comment by host Kendis @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the proposal as incorrect since the trial is being held in the Senate which has different rules for impeachment .
“ Regarding Chief Justice Roberts , in order to dismiss a case in the Senate , that would be up to a vote and it ’ s unlikely to see the vote even ending in a 50-50 tie that would allow Roberts to make such a decision , right ?
” he explained .
“ You would need to have a certain number of Republican Senators to come over , but just barely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ threshold where the dismissal would be , you know , put to the side based on a vote.
” “ And it ’ s really difficult to see Chief Justice Roberts , if such a 50-50 vote did take place , be willing to put his thumb on the scale that hard and dismiss the case outright before anything is even heard — anything is presented from the House , ” he added .
“ The scenario Giuliani is presenting is highly , if not downright impossible to take place — so difficult @ @ @ @ @ @

Sunday morning an MSNBC analyst poured cold water on a proposal from former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani that Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts use his authority and dismiss the impeachment trial of Donald Trump before it even begins.
Appearing on Fox News on Saturday night, Giuliani -- who serves as a legal advisor to the president -- suggested Roberts could, at the behest of the GOP leadership, call off the trial of the president.
According to Giuliani, "All it says is in the Senate, it says there shall be a trial in the United States Senate, the chief justice presides. What happens at the beginning of trial very often? The defense lawyer stands up and says, 'your honor, I move for the dismissal of the indictment because it fails to state a crime.' The chief justice will be given the power to dismiss. If we do go to a trial, he'll [Trump] get acquitted. I could even argue that politically it would be better to go to trial."
Asked to comment by host Kendis Gibson, MSNBC analyst Allan Smith dismissed the proposal as incorrect since the trial is being held in the Senate which has different rules for impeachment.
"Regarding Chief Justice Roberts, in order to dismiss a case in the Senate, that would be up to a vote and it's unlikely to see the vote even ending in a 50-50 tie that would allow Roberts to make such a decision, right?" he explained. "You would need to have a certain number of Republican Senators to come over, but just barely not enough to get it over the threshold where the dismissal would be, you know, put to the side based on a vote."
"And it's really difficult to see Chief Justice Roberts, if such a 50-50 vote did take place, be willing to put his thumb on the scale that hard and dismiss the case outright before anything is even heard -- anything is presented from the House," he added. "The scenario Giuliani is presenting is highly, if not downright impossible to take place -- so difficult to see it happening."
Watch below:


rawstory--2020-01-12--Libya strongman Haftar agrees ceasefire after calls from Kremlin, Ankara

Libyan strongman General Khalifa Haftar on Saturday announced a ceasefire in his months-long battle to control the capital Tripoli after calls for a truce from Russia and Turkey .
The North African state has seen an escalation of the turmoil that erupted after a NATO-backed uprising killed dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 2011 , with Haftar trying to capture Tripoli from Libya ’ s UN-recognised government .
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan this week called for a truce in Libya starting Sunday from midnight , but Haftar had initially vowed to fight on .
Haftar @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the ceasefire from midnight on Sunday ( 2200 GMT ) , but warned of a “ severe ” response to any violation by the “ opposing camp ” , a reference to the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord ( GNA ) led by Fayez al-Sarraj .
Before Haftar ’ s statement , Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel met earlier on Saturday in Moscow and called for international efforts to address the crisis in Libya .
Germany and Russia are both acting as mediators in a conflict Berlin has warned could become a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ topped the agenda as they met for talks at the Kremlin .
“ I am really counting on the opposing sides in Libya ceasing fire , ceasing armed combat… within a few hours , ” Putin said .
“ It ’ s important to bring an end to the armed confrontation.
” Merkel , making her first visit to Russia since 2018 , said she hoped “ the Turkish-Russian efforts will be successful , ” calling a ceasefire a first step in a peace process .
Hafter ’ s forces , who began @ @ @ @ @ @ @ did not give any details in their short statement on how the ceasefire would come into effect .
Speaking in Rome after meetings with Italy ’ s premier , Sarraj had earlier welcomed the Turkish-Russian initiative , but said any ceasefire would be conditional on a withdrawal of Haftar ’ s forces .
Western powers and Northern African states have been working to prevent a widening conflict in Libya with the increasingly involvement of international players backing opposing forces in the conflict .
Libya is now divided between the GNA in Tripoli and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and the south and European governments are concerned about Islamist militants and migrant smugglers taking advantage of the chaos .
Putin and Merkel both backed a Libya peace conference in Berlin being organised by UN special envoy to Libya , Ghassan Salame , which could be held in the coming weeks .
While Turkey has sent troops to support the UN-backed Tripoli government , Moscow is accused of backing mercenaries supporting Haftar in his fight against the government .
Putin reiterated Moscow ’ s denial of this , saying : “ if there @ @ @ @ @ @ @ represent the interests of the Russian state and do not receive money from it.
” In Libya , “ unfortunately large-scale military action is continuing and terrorist activity is growing , ” said Putin , who is keen to stress his role as a regional powerbroker .
“ All this undermines stability not only in the region itself but has a negative influence on Europe , ” he added , citing smuggling of drugs and weapons .
He stressed the need to “ restart the political process with the final aim of overcoming @ @ @ @ @ @ @ single state institutions.
” The talks that Putin praised as “ substantive ” also covered other flashpoints in the region , including Iran , with the leaders stressing the need to save the 2015 nuclear deal that the US withdrew from unilaterally in 2018 .
Merkel said it was necessary to “ keep ( the deal ) alive ” to prevent Iran acquiring nuclear weapons , while Putin said it was necessary for Instex , a barter mechanism to allow Iran to circumvent sanctions on trade backed by major European powers , to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also covered the Syria conflict where a fresh ceasefire brokered by Russia and Turkey is expected to go into effect after midnight in the last major opposition bastion of Idlib .
Putin warned that “ large-scale military conflicts ” in the Middle East would be a “ catastrophe not only for the region , the Middle East , but for the whole world , ” leading to “ new flows of migrants ” to Europe and other regions .
This would also cause “ huge damage to the global economy , ” he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ war with Russia-backed separatists in Ukraine .
Putin in December took part in talks on the Ukraine conflict in Paris in the “ Normandy format ” hosted by Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron .
This was his first face-to-face meeting with his recently-installed Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky , relaunching the stalled peace process .

Libyan strongman General Khalifa Haftar on Saturday announced a ceasefire in his months-long battle to control the capital Tripoli after calls for a truce from Russia and Turkey. The North African state has seen an escalation of the turmoil that erupted after a NATO-backed uprising killed dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 2011, with Haftar trying to capture Tripoli from Libya's UN-recognised government.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan this week called for a truce in Libya starting Sunday from midnight, but Haftar had initially vowed to fight on.
Haftar's forces on Saturday agreed to the ceasefire from midnight on Sunday (2200 GMT), but warned of a "severe" response to any violation by the "opposing camp", a reference to the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) led by Fayez al-Sarraj.
Before Haftar's statement, Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel met earlier on Saturday in Moscow and called for international efforts to address the crisis in Libya.
Germany and Russia are both acting as mediators in a conflict Berlin has warned could become a "second Syria" and the topic topped the agenda as they met for talks at the Kremlin.
"I am really counting on the opposing sides in Libya ceasing fire, ceasing armed combat... within a few hours," Putin said. "It's important to bring an end to the armed confrontation."
Merkel, making her first visit to Russia since 2018, said she hoped "the Turkish-Russian efforts will be successful," calling a ceasefire a first step in a peace process.
Hafter's forces, who began their offensive on Tripoli in April, did not give any details in their short statement on how the ceasefire would come into effect.
Speaking in Rome after meetings with Italy's premier, Sarraj had earlier welcomed the Turkish-Russian initiative, but said any ceasefire would be conditional on a withdrawal of Haftar's forces.
Western powers and Northern African states have been working to prevent a widening conflict in Libya with the increasingly involvement of international players backing opposing forces in the conflict.
Libya is now divided between the GNA in Tripoli and Haftar's forces in the east and the south and European governments are concerned about Islamist militants and migrant smugglers taking advantage of the chaos.
- Backing Berlin conference -
Putin and Merkel both backed a Libya peace conference in Berlin being organised by UN special envoy to Libya, Ghassan Salame, which could be held in the coming weeks.
AFP/File / Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV Merkel is on her first visit to Russia since 2018 Putin called the initiative "timely" and a "very good step in the right direction." The conference must include "countries that have a real interest in promoting a peace settlement" and decisions must be agreed preliminarily with the Libyan sides, with the involvement of Salame, he said.
While Turkey has sent troops to support the UN-backed Tripoli government, Moscow is accused of backing mercenaries supporting Haftar in his fight against the government.
Putin reiterated Moscow's denial of this, saying: "if there are Russians there, they do not represent the interests of the Russian state and do not receive money from it."
In Libya, "unfortunately large-scale military action is continuing and terrorist activity is growing," said Putin, who is keen to stress his role as a regional powerbroker.
"All this undermines stability not only in the region itself but has a negative influence on Europe," he added, citing smuggling of drugs and weapons.
He stressed the need to "restart the political process with the final aim of overcoming the split inside the country and forming single state institutions."
- Iran, Ukraine -
The talks that Putin praised as "substantive" also covered other flashpoints in the region, including Iran, with the leaders stressing the need to save the 2015 nuclear deal that the US withdrew from unilaterally in 2018.
Merkel said it was necessary to "keep (the deal) alive" to prevent Iran acquiring nuclear weapons, while Putin said it was necessary for Instex, a barter mechanism to allow Iran to circumvent sanctions on trade backed by major European powers, to "finally start working."
The talks also covered the Syria conflict where a fresh ceasefire brokered by Russia and Turkey is expected to go into effect after midnight in the last major opposition bastion of Idlib.
Putin warned that "large-scale military conflicts" in the Middle East would be a "catastrophe not only for the region, the Middle East, but for the whole world," leading to "new flows of migrants" to Europe and other regions.
This would also cause "huge damage to the global economy," he said.
The leaders also discussed the war with Russia-backed separatists in Ukraine.
Putin in December took part in talks on the Ukraine conflict in Paris in the "Normandy format" hosted by Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron.
This was his first face-to-face meeting with his recently-installed Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, relaunching the stalled peace process.


rawstory--2020-01-12--Firms in China remain wary despite Trump trade deal

Washington and Beijing may be ready to sign a preliminary trade agreement , but companies in China are not taking any chances , forging ahead with contingency plans in case the tariff war resumes .
As Chinese Vice Premier Liu He travels to Washington from Monday to Wednesday to seal the deal , manufacturers and suppliers told AFP that they fear the agreement could be upended even after it is signed .
Rather than focusing on the agreement , they are planning for the worst — seeking new markets abroad , increasing their presence at home or moving production overseas @ @ @ @ @ @ @ signalled a de-escalation in a trade conflict pitting the world ’ s two most powerful economies against each other for nearly two years .
But even as the US held off last month from a further escalation in tariffs , firms continue bearing the brunt of existing levies as well as suffering a lower volume of orders amid simmering trade tensions .
Washington maintains 25 percent tariffs on about $ 250 billion worth of Chinese imports .
“ Even if they signed the Phase One deal , we don ’ t know if @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” said Alfred Wong , CEO of D & S Products Manufactory , which is headquartered in Hong Kong and has a factory in the southern trade hub of Shenzhen .
Wong ’ s company , which makes child safety products and greeting cards , has moved almost a third of its production to Sri Lanka since last September , even though it has not been hit hard by existing tariffs .
Wong said that clients were unlikely to give it new deals if it did not adopt a “ China plus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the country .
He added that orders for products had fallen last year , much of it due to uncertainty over potential escalations in tariffs .
“ Even if President Donald Trump were not in office , the US could still take action against China , ” said Wong .
“ Things are unlikely to return to the way they were before the trade war.
” Jason Lee , CEO of metal parts manufacturer Shanghai EverSkill M & E , said the US market made up about 60 percent of his company ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but this has dropped to around 40 percent .
He is now looking for more clients outside the US to make up for some of the shortfall .
“ In the long run , as a Chinese supplier , we can only improve on our products and ensure they are better compared with those from elsewhere .
That is the most fundamental solution , ” Lee said .
Instead of looking abroad , Silver Star , a robot vacuum-cleaner maker headquartered in Shenzhen , is now seeking to increase its market share within @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Macroeconomic policies are not within the control of small business owners like us , ” said company chief executive Ludwig Ye .
Some companies are also doing less research and development for new products .
Kim Ng , managing director of kitchen gadgets producer Ko Fung , said this has had a knock-on effect on business for the rest of the year as the production of new goods typically comes after research and development .
Ng added that the potential cut in tariffs in the Phase One deal is only from 15 percent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ billion of Chinese imports .
“ President Trump is attacking China to boost his popularity , and it is ( a US presidential ) election year .
I expect the further stages of negotiations will be more difficult , ” he said .
Iris Pang , Greater China economist at ING , said the rollback on tariffs is likely to benefit only “ a very small group of exporters ” .
UOB bank ’ s head of research Suan Teck Kin said that while the deal suggests that trade tensions have stopped escalating @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of strain such as China ’ s subsidies to state-owned enterprises .
Analysts also remain divided on whether China is likely to raise its purchase of US agricultural goods to at least $ 40 billion annually over two years , a figure invoked by US officials .
China has not confirmed the numbers , but Suan said it was not impossible to achieve .
If US farm-product purchases hit around $ 40 billion by 2021 , it would likely represent about 23 percent of China ’ s agricultural imports .
At its 2015 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nearly 25 percent of China ’ s imports , he said .
Tensions also remain on other fronts , especially in technology , with the US having imposed sanctions on Chinese telecom champion Huawei .
“ There seems to be an escalation of the tech war between China and the US , and between China and the rest of the world , ” said Pang .
“ It seems that it ’ s not only a trade war now , it ’ s an overall resistance towards China ’ s development of advanced @ @ @

Washington and Beijing may be ready to sign a preliminary trade agreement, but companies in China are not taking any chances, forging ahead with contingency plans in case the tariff war resumes.
As Chinese Vice Premier Liu He travels to Washington from Monday to Wednesday to seal the deal, manufacturers and suppliers told AFP that they fear the agreement could be upended even after it is signed.
Rather than focusing on the agreement, they are planning for the worst -- seeking new markets abroad, increasing their presence at home or moving production overseas.
The "Phase One" deal signalled a de-escalation in a trade conflict pitting the world's two most powerful economies against each other for nearly two years.
But even as the US held off last month from a further escalation in tariffs, firms continue bearing the brunt of existing levies as well as suffering a lower volume of orders amid simmering trade tensions.
Washington maintains 25 percent tariffs on about $250 billion worth of Chinese imports.
"Even if they signed the Phase One deal, we don't know if things will change at a later stage," said Alfred Wong, CEO of D&S Products Manufactory, which is headquartered in Hong Kong and has a factory in the southern trade hub of Shenzhen.
- 'China plus one' -
Wong's company, which makes child safety products and greeting cards, has moved almost a third of its production to Sri Lanka since last September, even though it has not been hit hard by existing tariffs.
Wong said that clients were unlikely to give it new deals if it did not adopt a "China plus one" strategy of diversifying operations outside the country.
He added that orders for products had fallen last year, much of it due to uncertainty over potential escalations in tariffs.
"Even if President Donald Trump were not in office, the US could still take action against China," said Wong. "Things are unlikely to return to the way they were before the trade war."
Jason Lee, CEO of metal parts manufacturer Shanghai EverSkill M&E, said the US market made up about 60 percent of his company's sales before the trade war, but this has dropped to around 40 percent.
He is now looking for more clients outside the US to make up for some of the shortfall.
"In the long run, as a Chinese supplier, we can only improve on our products and ensure they are better compared with those from elsewhere. That is the most fundamental solution," Lee said.
Instead of looking abroad, Silver Star, a robot vacuum-cleaner maker headquartered in Shenzhen, is now seeking to increase its market share within China, particularly via e-commerce.
"Macroeconomic policies are not within the control of small business owners like us," said company chief executive Ludwig Ye.
Some companies are also doing less research and development for new products.
Kim Ng, managing director of kitchen gadgets producer Ko Fung, said this has had a knock-on effect on business for the rest of the year as the production of new goods typically comes after research and development.
Ng added that the potential cut in tariffs in the Phase One deal is only from 15 percent to 7.5 percent on around $120 billion of Chinese imports.
"President Trump is attacking China to boost his popularity, and it is (a US presidential) election year. I expect the further stages of negotiations will be more difficult," he said.
- Limited benefits -
Iris Pang, Greater China economist at ING, said the rollback on tariffs is likely to benefit only "a very small group of exporters".
UOB bank's head of research Suan Teck Kin said that while the deal suggests that trade tensions have stopped escalating, it does not address other sources of strain such as China's subsidies to state-owned enterprises.
Analysts also remain divided on whether China is likely to raise its purchase of US agricultural goods to at least $40 billion annually over two years, a figure invoked by US officials.
China has not confirmed the numbers, but Suan said it was not impossible to achieve.
If US farm-product purchases hit around $40 billion by 2021, it would likely represent about 23 percent of China's agricultural imports. At its 2015 peak, US farm products made up nearly 25 percent of China's imports, he said.
Tensions also remain on other fronts, especially in technology, with the US having imposed sanctions on Chinese telecom champion Huawei.
"There seems to be an escalation of the tech war between China and the US, and between China and the rest of the world," said Pang.
"It seems that it's not only a trade war now, it's an overall resistance towards China's development of advanced technologies."


rawstory--2020-01-12--Queen, Prince Harry, senior royals set for crisis meeting

Queen Elizabeth II will host a showdown meeting with Prince Harry on Monday in an attempt to solve the crisis triggered by his bombshell announcement that he and wife Meghan were stepping back from the royal frontline .
Other senior royals including Harry ’ s father Prince Charles and brother Prince William , with whom he has strained relations , will join the monarch at her private Sandringham estate in eastern England , according to British media .
Meghan will join the meeting via conference call from Canada as they attempt to work out the “ next steps ” towards @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the bud .
Issues up for debate include how much money the couple will still receive from Charles ’ s estate , their royal titles and what commercial deals they can strike , according to the Sunday Times .
The newspaper reported that William believes he and Harry are now “ separate entities ” , breaking the bonds forged following their mother ’ s tragic death .
“ I ’ ve put my arm around my brother all our lives and I can ’ t do that any more ; we ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reported he told a friend .
Harry , Meghan and son Archie spent Christmas in Canada , with the American former actress returning there this week .
The Queen on Thursday demanded that staff work with the couple to find urgently a “ workable solution ” that would take into account their demands for more freedom .
Several Canadian media reported Meghan had returned to Vancouver island off the country ’ s Pacific coast , where the family spent the year-end holidays and where baby Archie had remained with his nanny .
Senior @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s announcement that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex wanted to seek a “ progressive new role ” and divide their time between Britain and North America .
The Queen ’ s office issued a terse statement the same evening , saying there were “ complicated issues that will take time to work through ” .
Harry and Meghan said they intended to continue to “ fully support ” the queen and “ collaborate ” with senior royals .
They also want to keep their home on the queen ’ s Windsor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ while aiming to become financially independent .
But their desire to live as both members of the monarchy and private individuals making a living was described as a “ toxic mix ” by David McClure , an investigator into royal finances .
“ The history of senior royals making money — the two is a toxic mix .
It hasn ’ t worked well in the past , ” he told the Press Association .
“ How can you be half-in , half-out — half the week perform public duties and the other @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , lectures , books ?
It is fraught with dangers.
” The younger prince , who has struggled with his role , last year revealed he has been growing apart from his brother , who as second in line to the throne is increasingly pursuing a different path .
Harry has been open about his mental health issues and he and Meghan last year admitted to struggling with the spotlight following their wedding at Windsor Castle in May 2018 and Archie ’ s birth a year later .
The couple have also lashed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of which Harry says was racist — in light of Meghan ’ s biracial heritage .
The British public currently appears to be siding with the family , with a Daily Mail poll showing that a majority believe Harry should give up his right to the throne and be stripped of cash support from the royals or taxpayer .

Queen Elizabeth II will host a showdown meeting with Prince Harry on Monday in an attempt to solve the crisis triggered by his bombshell announcement that he and wife Meghan were stepping back from the royal frontline.
Other senior royals including Harry's father Prince Charles and brother Prince William, with whom he has strained relations, will join the monarch at her private Sandringham estate in eastern England, according to British media.
Meghan will join the meeting via conference call from Canada as they attempt to work out the "next steps" towards a compromise and nip the growing crisis in the bud.
Issues up for debate include how much money the couple will still receive from Charles's estate, their royal titles and what commercial deals they can strike, according to the Sunday Times.
The newspaper reported that William believes he and Harry are now "separate entities", breaking the bonds forged following their mother's tragic death.
"I've put my arm around my brother all our lives and I can't do that any more; we're separate entities," the Times reported he told a friend.
Harry, Meghan and son Archie spent Christmas in Canada, with the American former actress returning there this week.
The Queen on Thursday demanded that staff work with the couple to find urgently a "workable solution" that would take into account their demands for more freedom.
Several Canadian media reported Meghan had returned to Vancouver island off the country's Pacific coast, where the family spent the year-end holidays and where baby Archie had remained with his nanny.
Senior royals were caught off guard by Wednesday's announcement that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex wanted to seek a "progressive new role" and divide their time between Britain and North America.
- 'Toxic mix' -
The Queen's office issued a terse statement the same evening, saying there were "complicated issues that will take time to work through".
Harry and Meghan said they intended to continue to "fully support" the queen and "collaborate" with senior royals.
They also want to keep their home on the queen's Windsor Castle estate as their British base, while aiming to become financially independent.
But their desire to live as both members of the monarchy and private individuals making a living was described as a "toxic mix" by David McClure, an investigator into royal finances.
"The history of senior royals making money -- the two is a toxic mix. It hasn't worked well in the past," he told the Press Association.
"How can you be half-in, half-out -- half the week perform public duties and the other half earn your own income with TV, lectures, books? It is fraught with dangers."
The younger prince, who has struggled with his role, last year revealed he has been growing apart from his brother, who as second in line to the throne is increasingly pursuing a different path.
Harry has been open about his mental health issues and he and Meghan last year admitted to struggling with the spotlight following their wedding at Windsor Castle in May 2018 and Archie's birth a year later.
The couple have also lashed out at negative news coverage -- some of which Harry says was racist -- in light of Meghan's biracial heritage.
The British public currently appears to be siding with the family, with a Daily Mail poll showing that a majority believe Harry should give up his right to the throne and be stripped of cash support from the royals or taxpayer.


rawstory--2020-01-12--Trump warns Iran against ‘massacre’ as protests erupt over jetliner downing

US President Donald Trump said Saturday the United States was monitoring Iranian demonstrations closely , warning against any new “ massacre ” as protests broke out after Tehran admitted to shooting down a passenger plane .
Iran said earlier it unintentionally downed a Ukrainian jetliner outside Tehran , killing all 176 people aboard , in an abrupt about-turn after initially denying Western claims it was struck by a missile .
The firing came shortly after Iran launched missiles at bases in Iraq housing American forces .
President Hassan Rouhani said a military probe into the tragedy had found “ missiles @ @ @ @ @ @ @ down the Boeing 737 , calling it an “ unforgivable mistake.
” At a student protest to pay tribute to the crash victims on Saturday , Iranian authorities briefly detained Britain ’ s ambassador , in what the British government called a violation of international law .
He was later released .
Trump told Iranians — in tweets in both English and Farsi — that he stands by them and is monitoring the demonstrations .
“ To the brave , long-suffering people of Iran : I ’ ve stood with you since the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Administration will continue to stand with you , ” he tweeted .
“ There can not be another massacre of peaceful protesters , nor an internet shutdown .
The world is watching , ” he added , apparently referring to an Iranian crackdown on street protests that broke out in November .
“ We are following your protests closely , and are inspired by your courage , ” he said .
The new demonstrations follow an Iranian crackdown on street protests that broke out in November .
Amnesty International has said it left @ @ @ @ @ @ @ access was reportedly cut off in multiple Iranian provinces ahead of memorials planned a month after the protests .
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has demanded that Iran provide “ full clarity ” on the downing of the plane .
Ottawa says the dead included 57 Canadians .
Iran ’ s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also offered his condolences and ordered the armed forces to address “ shortcomings ” so that such a disaster does not happen again .
The crash came hours after Tehran launched missiles at bases hosting American forces @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in a US drone strike .
Fears grew of an all-out war between Iran and its arch-enemy the United States , but those concerns have subsided after Trump said Tehran appeared to be standing down after targeting the US bases .
On Saturday evening , police dispersed students who had converged on Amir Kabir University in Tehran to pay tribute to the victims , after some among the hundreds gathered shouted “ destructive ” slogans , Fars news agency said .
Iran ’ s Tasnim News Agency @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s conservatives , said the envoy had been “ provoking radical acts ” among students .
He was released a few hours later and would be summoned again by Iranian officials on Sunday , it said .
State television reported that students shouted “ anti-regime ” chants , while Fars reported that posters of Soleimani had been torn down .
The operator failed to obtain approval from his superiors because of disruptions to a communications system , he said .
“ He had 10 seconds to decide .
He could have decided @ @ @ @ @ @ @ under such circumstances , he took the wrong decision.
” Iran had been under mounting international pressure to allow a “ credible ” investigation after video emerged appearing to show the moment the airliner was hit .
AFP / Sergei SUPINSKY People stand in front of a makeshift memorial at the Boryspil airport outside Kiev In footage that the New York Times said it had verified , a fast-moving object is seen rising into the sky before a bright flash appears .
Several seconds later , an explosion is heard .
Iran ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the highest level of alert after American “ threats ” and that the plane had turned and come close to a “ sensitive ” military site before it was targeted due to “ human error.
” Rouhani said Iran had been on alert for possible US attacks after Soleimani ’ s “ martyrdom.
” Rouhani told his Ukrainian counterpart Saturday that “ all the persons involved in this air disaster will be brought to justice , ” Ukraine ’ s presidency said .
This is Iran ’ s worst civil aviation disaster since @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shot down an Iran Air plane over the Gulf by mistake , killing all 290 people on board .

US President Donald Trump said Saturday the United States was monitoring Iranian demonstrations closely, warning against any new "massacre" as protests broke out after Tehran admitted to shooting down a passenger plane. Iran said earlier it unintentionally downed a Ukrainian jetliner outside Tehran, killing all 176 people aboard, in an abrupt about-turn after initially denying Western claims it was struck by a missile. The firing came shortly after Iran launched missiles at bases in Iraq housing American forces.
President Hassan Rouhani said a military probe into the tragedy had found "missiles fired due to human error" brought down the Boeing 737, calling it an "unforgivable mistake."
At a student protest to pay tribute to the crash victims on Saturday, Iranian authorities briefly detained Britain's ambassador, in what the British government called a violation of international law. He was later released.
Trump told Iranians -- in tweets in both English and Farsi -- that he stands by them and is monitoring the demonstrations.
AFP / Ukrainian passenger jet crash in Iran "To the brave, long-suffering people of Iran: I've stood with you since the beginning of my Presidency, and my Administration will continue to stand with you," he tweeted. "There can not be another massacre of peaceful protesters, nor an internet shutdown. The world is watching," he added, apparently referring to an Iranian crackdown on street protests that broke out in November.
"We are following your protests closely, and are inspired by your courage," he said.
The new demonstrations follow an Iranian crackdown on street protests that broke out in November. Amnesty International has said it left more than 300 people dead.
Internet access was reportedly cut off in multiple Iranian provinces ahead of memorials planned a month after the protests.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has demanded that Iran provide "full clarity" on the downing of the plane. Ottawa says the dead included 57 Canadians.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also offered his condolences and ordered the armed forces to address "shortcomings" so that such a disaster does not happen again.
IRNA/AFP/File / Akbar TAVAKOLI Iran has admitted that it shot down a Ukrainian airliner by mistake Tehran's acknowledgement came after officials in Iran denied for days Western claims that the Ukraine International Airlines plane had been struck by a missile in a catastrophic error. The Kiev-bound jet slammed into a field shortly after taking off from Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport on Wednesday.
The crash came hours after Tehran launched missiles at bases hosting American forces in Iraq in response to the killing of top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in a US drone strike.
Fears grew of an all-out war between Iran and its arch-enemy the United States, but those concerns have subsided after Trump said Tehran appeared to be standing down after targeting the US bases.
- Protesters 'dispersed' -
On Saturday evening, police dispersed students who had converged on Amir Kabir University in Tehran to pay tribute to the victims, after some among the hundreds gathered shouted "destructive" slogans, Fars news agency said.
AFP / Atta KENARE Iranian students demonstrate in front of Amir Kabir University in the capital Tehran British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said UK envoy Rob Macaire had been detained. "The arrest of our ambassador in Tehran without grounds or explanation is a flagrant violation of international law," Raab said in a statement. The US called on Iran to apologize.
Iran's Tasnim News Agency, which is close to the country's conservatives, said the envoy had been "provoking radical acts" among students. He was released a few hours later and would be summoned again by Iranian officials on Sunday, it said.
State television reported that students shouted "anti-regime" chants, while Fars reported that posters of Soleimani had been torn down.
Iranian Presidency/AFP/File / HO President Hassan Rouhani said Iran 'deeply regrets this disastrous mistake' The aerospace commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards accepted full responsibility for Wednesday's accident. But Brigadier General Amirali Hajizadeh said the missile operator acted independently, targeting the 737 after mistaking it for a "cruise missile".
The operator failed to obtain approval from his superiors because of disruptions to a communications system, he said.
"He had 10 seconds to decide. He could have decided to strike or not to strike and under such circumstances, he took the wrong decision."
- Justice, compensation -
Iran had been under mounting international pressure to allow a "credible" investigation after video emerged appearing to show the moment the airliner was hit.
AFP / Sergei SUPINSKY People stand in front of a makeshift memorial at the Boryspil airport outside Kiev In footage that the New York Times said it had verified, a fast-moving object is seen rising into the sky before a bright flash appears. Several seconds later, an explosion is heard. Iran's military said it had been at the highest level of alert after American "threats" and that the plane had turned and come close to a "sensitive" military site before it was targeted due to "human error."
Rouhani said Iran had been on alert for possible US attacks after Soleimani's "martyrdom."
AFP/File / Geoff Robins The downing of the Ukrainian jet is Iran's worst civil aviation disaster since 1988 Rouhani added he had ordered "all relevant bodies to take all necessary actions (to ensure) compensation" to the families of those killed. The majority of passengers on Flight PS752 were Iranians and Canadians, including dual nationals, while Ukrainians, Afghans, Britons and Swedes were also aboard.
Rouhani told his Ukrainian counterpart Saturday that "all the persons involved in this air disaster will be brought to justice," Ukraine's presidency said.
This is Iran's worst civil aviation disaster since 1988 when the US military said it shot down an Iran Air plane over the Gulf by mistake, killing all 290 people on board.


rawstory--2020-01-13--Trump signed off on killing Suleimani months ago — undercutting ‘imminent threat’ claims: report

President Donald Trump Trump authorized the killing of Iranian general Qassim Suleimani seven months ago , according to administration sources .
Trump signed off on killing Suleimani in June if Iran ’ s increased aggression resulted in the death of an American , according to five current and former senior administration officials , which raises new questions about the justification for ordering the airstrike , reported NBC News .
“ There have been a number of options presented to the president over the course of time , ” a senior administration official said .
That source told NBC News that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the list of options “ some time ago.
” Administration officials have claimed Suleimani ’ s killing was ordered in response to an “ imminent threat , ” which the president has claimed — without evidence — involved up to four embassies .
Former national security adviser John Bolton urged Trump to approve Suleimani ’ s killing in June , after Iran shot down a U.S. drone , but the president said at that time he would not agree unless Iran killed an American .
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also wanted Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that time , sources said .
Pompeo , who was Trump ’ s first CIA director , has consistently urged the president to take a more aggressive approach to Suleimani .
Trump ’ s second national security adviser , H.R .
McMaster , also discussed killing Suleimani as early as 2017 .
The president ordered a drone strike that killed Suleimani on Jan. 3 near the Baghdad airport after an Iranian-backed militia killed Iraqi-American defense contractor Nawres Hamid a few days earlier .

Introducing the segment, Melber compared it to "The George Costanza Defense," after the Seinfeld character who claimed, "Remember Jerry, if you believe it was true, it wasn't a lie." As Melber explained, that doesn't necessarily work unless you can claim the insanity defense. That might not help a campaign for the U.S. presidency.
POLL: Should Trump be allowed to run for office?
"All criminal charges — almost all, require them to have some knowledge — really issues liability," McCord explained. "But that's very different than saying he had a firm belief that the election was stolen as some sort of get-out-of-jail-free card. There are lots of things in this indictment that he engaged in, conduct that he engaged in, that went well beyond what you are legally allowed to do when you firmly believe you did not lose the election."
Melber used another example, that if someone truly believes that a bank is evil, it doesn't entitle them to then rob the bank.
"And [it] might be a 'not guilty by reason of insanity' defense, but not intent for what you've done," McCord said. "You don't have the right to go take it just because you think the bank is evil. It could even have a more simple example. Let's say you think the bank miscalculated the interest on your savings account. And so it's not even at the bank is, evil it's just wrong. And you've asked them for it, and they disagreed with you, but you firmly believe your math is right, and their math is wrong. You just don't get to go hold up the bank. That's exactly what we're talking about here."
What the indictment walked through, she continued, is that Trump could not have reasonably believed that there was enough fraud to change the outcome of the 2020 election.
"But even if he did," she speculated, "that doesn't mean you can orchestrate a scheme of fake electors, send their ballots to the vice president to have then be counted. It doesn't mean that you can put really unlawful pressure on state officials, including either threatening criminal prosecution, as he did with respect to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger."
Weissmann said it's perhaps the worst defense he's ever heard because "no jury will go down that road with him."
Another defense of Trump's is that he was "just joking" about his attempts to overthrow the government or that he wasn't really going to do something like that. While Trump might claim that it didn't actually happen, McCord disagrees.
"It pretty much did come to fruition," she said. "This notion of a conspiracy is — oftentimes when people say we weren't really going to do it. So, it doesn't work here. It doesn't work factually, and it's something the laws that the law has had to deal with in many of the situations."
The next Trump defense is that his First Amendment rights are being violated and his attacks on the 2020 election were protected speech.
"This is something that Jack Smith dealt with right at the beginning of the indictment, and he makes clear Mr. Trump has the right First Amendment right to speak. He even has the First Amendment right to lie about what he thinks about the election results show. But what he doesn't have the right to do is conduct that is based on a fraud. And fraud always involves some type of expression. That's the very heart of fraud. You have engaged in conduct, here a conspiracy, multiple conspiracies based on a fraud, based on lies. So, there is a distinction between speech, which he is entitled to do, and conduct, which is something clear in the indictment, for the talking points for Trump and his supporters, it makes for a quick clip and makes like what the judge is done is unlawful."
Finally, another excuse Trump gives is that his lawyers told him that the 2020 election was fraudulent, and he believed those lawyers.
"When your co-conspirator is a lawyer, you don't get to rely on the co-conspirators' voice as a defense," McCord laughed. "Here we know from the unindicted co-conspirators who have been identified that most of those, in fact, all but possibly one, were acting as lawyers. That's the 'thing one,' and 'thing two' is you can't just go cherry-pick around when all of your lawyers are telling you there's no significant fraud and this fraudulent elector scheme won't work. You can't just keep trying out new lawyers, hunting lawyers until you find one to agree with you."
Weissmann explained that the perfect dispute for Trump's claim that he trusted his lawyers is Mar-a-Lago. In that case, his lawyers advised him on what to do with the FBI, and he consistently ignored them. In fact, The Nation's legal analyst, Elie Mystal, argued this week that Trump is currently ignoring any legitimate legal defenses.
See the conversation in the clip below or at the link here.


rawstory--2020-01-13--The IRS tried to crack down on rich people using an ‘abusive’ tax deduction — but it hasn’t gone so

The IRS tried to crack down on rich people using an ‘abusive’ tax deduction — but it hasn’t gone so well

In March 2019 , the IRS added a scheme to its annual “ Dirty Dozen ” list of “ the worst of the worst tax scams.
” That same scheme was targeted , just weeks earlier , when the U.S. Department of Justice filed a fraud lawsuit against a handful of promoters allegedly responsible for generating more than $ 2 billion in improper tax write-offs .
And the Senate Finance Committee has been investigating that very same racket , recently demanding thousands of pages of documents from six promoters .
Lawmakers from both parties have introduced legislation to halt the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ re all trying to kill is what ’ s called a “ syndicated conservation easement , ” which the IRS calls “ abusive ” and says has resulted in bogus deductions for the rich that have cost the U.S. Treasury billions in revenues .
A conservation easement , in its original , legitimate form , is granted when a landowner permanently protects pristine land from development .
In that scenario , the public enjoys the benefit of undeveloped land and the taxpayer gets a charitable deduction .
By contrast , the syndicated form @ @ @ @ @ @ @ known as “ promoters , ” involves buying up land , finding an appraiser willing to declare that it has huge development value and thus is worth many times the purchase price , then selling stakes in the deal to wealthy investors who extract tax deductions that are often five or more times what they put in .
( ProPublica investigated syndicated easements in the 2017 article “ The Billion-Dollar Loophole.
” ) But the multifront crackdown seems to be having , at best , a limited effect .
There were signs that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , according to an IRS letter to Congress in July 2018 that cited incomplete data ; that ’ s the most recent official statement from the agency , which declined to comment for this article .
And some entities doing syndicated projects have seen their business drop or have even left the field .
But IRS commissioner Chuck Rettig offered a different picture to the Senate Finance Committee this spring .
“ Syndicated transactions have absolutely not declined , ” he testified .
“ They ’ re still there.
” In November , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ launch of criminal investigations — in the agency ’ s attempts to stymie syndicated easements .
“ We will not stop in our pursuit of everyone involved in the creation , marketing , promotion and wrongful acquisition of artificial , highly inflated deductions based on these aggressive transactions , ” he said in a statement at the time .
Three IRS divisions are now conducting coordinated examinations of syndication deals after identifying 125 “ high-risk cases , ” and outside contractors have been hired to assist with the investigative load .
More than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ against partnerships that used the syndicated easement deduction .
The imperviousness of the scam ’ s promoters and investors has left tax experts flummoxed .
“ Boy , it isn ’ t like the old days , when people were fearful of the IRS , ” said Steven Miller , who oversaw enforcement and tax-exempt organizations during his 25 years at the IRS and is now national tax director with consulting firm Alliantgroup .
“ I ’ m worried people aren ’ t afraid of the cop on the beat any more.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ I thought by now they would have put these guys out of business , ” said former agency commissioner John Koskinen , who took steps against syndicated easements before he left in late 2017 .
“ Obviously , if you can get four to seven times your investment back in deductions , that ’ s a good deal .
But you really have to have a lot of chutzpah to pull it off.
” Some promoters continue to flaunt their sales pitches .
In November , for example , an Alabama @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Justice Department ) solicited high net-worth clients with an ad in Barron ’ s , promising , in capital letters , “ TAX DEDUCTIONS AVAILABLE THROUGH CONSERVATION EASEMENTS…100,000 INVESTED YIELDS UP TO 600,000 IN DEDUCTIONS.
” And sizable deals are still being struck , including by an Atlanta firm called EcoVest Capital , a chief target of the Justice Department lawsuit .
According to a private placement memorandum dated Oct. 24 , which was obtained by ProPublica , EcoVest was planning as many as three new syndicated deals on 1,549 acres in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , touting a deduction of $ 4.10 for every $ 1 invested , was completed by year-end .
( The Justice Department suit , which is still in its early stage , asserted that EcoVest has been involved in 51 syndication easement deals since 2009 , generating $ 1.7 billion in federal tax deductions . )
On their face , the risk disclosures to potential investors in a syndicated deal seem daunting .
For example , the private placement memo for EcoVest ’ s Texas offering warned of a “ very high likelihood @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will be audited by the IRS.
” But experts cite several reasons for the stubborn survival of this tax-avoidance scheme .
The first is that the IRS , which Congress has starved for funding , chiefly wields its clout through individual audits and tax court cases , which invariably take years .
And even the dozens of tax court cases the IRS is pursuing target only a fraction of syndicated deals .
More important , the syndicated deals are structured in a way that insulate the wealthy individual investors , leaving the promoters @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the IRS .
Their fight is fueled with “ audit reserves ” of as much as $ 1 million that are set aside as part of every syndication partnership .
Some deals even offer “ audit insurance ” from Lloyds of London to offset disallowed write-offs .
“ The way the structure works is pretty buttoned up , ” Miller said .
“ The investor sits there and doesn ’ t see immediate pain .
You ’ re not going to be bothered by the IRS at the front end .
Some of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ me do the math .
What ’ s the likelihood of that 40 % penalty ?
’ That ’ s the calculation people are making.
” Miller believes the deterrent effect will kick in only if more cases personally target individual promoters and deal consultants with tough penalties and professional sanctions .
“ Ultimately , ” he said , “ they need to crush a few appraisers like a grape.
” The “ linchpin ” of the syndicated easements , Miller said , is the inflated appraisal .
“ How do I buy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ everything I buy is truly worth $ 10 ?
That belies rational thought .
You just scratch your head.
” Here ’ s how the appraisal worked in one syndicated deal described in the Justice Department complaint .
In 2015 , an EcoVest entity acquired 28 acres in North Myrtle Beach , South Carolina , for $ 1.1 million .
The firm raised about $ 9 million from investors who bought the property , then made an easement donation based on a claimed value for what the land would be worth if developed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , made by an appraiser hired by the promoters , produced a tax deduction of about $ 39.7 million .
The tax writeoff for investors : $ 4.12 for every $ 1 invested .
In a written response to ProPublica ’ s questions , an EcoVest spokesperson called the government ’ s charges “ baseless ” and insisted that “ none of the appraisals associated with EcoVest sponsored investments are abusive or fraudulent.
” One appraiser regularly retained by EcoVest and other syndicators also looms large in the Justice Department suit : Claud @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Alabama .
The complaint notes his involvement in at least 58 syndicated easement deals and alleges that Clark , 66 , “ continually and repeatedly ” generated “ grossly overvalued appraisals.
” In January 2019 , the Alabama state real estate appraiser board brought a formal complaint against Clark , after a detailed review of one of his easement appraisals found an inflated valuation riddled with errors and omissions .
Threatened with loss of his Alabama license , Clark voluntarily surrendered it in April instead .
He faces a second complaint filed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a 2018 appraisal he did for syndicators in Jefferson Davis Parish .
EcoVest has continued to use Clark .
Its October private placement memorandum , which raised $ 19.3 million from investors , did not disclose that he had surrendered his appraisal license in his home state .
( A spokesperson for EcoVest said Clark ’ s relinquishment of his Alabama license wasn ’ t disclosed “ because , under securities laws , it was not material to whether Mr. Clark was authorized to issue an appraisal in Texas — a state with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ practices.
” ) Clark did not respond to requests for comment .
On Christmas Eve , however , his attorneys filed a 130-page response and counterclaim to the Justice Department complaint , denying any inflated appraisals and accusing government officials , including the IRS commissioner , Rettig , of making “ unlawful disclosures ” of appraisal information from his tax returns in public statements about the litigation .
Promoters of syndicated conservation easements have long been at war with the supporters of traditional easements , who worry that abusive deals will prompt Congress @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The traditional conservation community , embodied by the Land Trust Alliance , the Washington , D.C. , association of nonprofit land trusts , began pressing the IRS to crack down nearly a decade ago .
( Land trusts are a key part of the process : The rules for conservation easements require that any property donated to seek an easement deduction must be accepted and maintained by a land trust or government entity . )
The Land Trust Alliance later refused to accredit any trust accepting syndicated deals .
The IRS ’ attempt @ @ @ @ @ @ @ back to December 2016 , when the agency took the rare step of designating profit-making syndicated easements as abusive “ listed ” transactions .
The IRS demanded special paperwork identifying everyone involved in such deals — from promoters and tax advisers to appraisers and investors — and warned that continued involvement would brand them for investigations and audits .
The agency next took its campaign to tax court , after refusing to back down on dozens of audits rejecting the fat write-offs and demanding back taxes , interest and penalties of up to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stake , promoters have fought back fiercely .
In 2016 , they formed a Washington , D.C.-based advocacy group , called Partnership for Conservation , which has spent more than $ 3 million to date on lobbyists .
EcoVest has spent another $ 2.5 million .
The Partnership for Conservation defends the legitimacy of syndicated deals , arguing that the profit motive produces “ tremendous opportunities ” for conservation , according to Robert Ramsay , executive director of the organization .
He said that the IRS should limit enforcement to cases of appraisal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rare .
“ You have to stop with the premise that all of these are egregious and over the top , ” Ramsay said .
“ I don ’ t think that ’ s the case.
” Among the syndicators ’ most fervent supporters is Robert Keller , a conservation biologist who runs the Atlantic Coast Conservancy , a land trust in Jasper , Georgia , and has accepted more syndicated easements than anyone .
Keller acknowledged in an interview that his business has slowed , declining from 56 easements in 2017 to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is itself now also under IRS audit for 2014 through 2016 .
( One of the reasons for the decline in volume for Keller : Atlanta-based Ornstein-Schuler , among the most prolific syndicated-easement promoters , announced last January that it was abandoning the business , citing “ recent developments and the uncertainty related to the conservation and gifting of property.
” ) Keller ’ s land trust displays the slogan “ Saving the world — One small piece at a time.
” He is unapologetic about accepting syndicated easements .
“ For me @ @ @ @ @ @ @ allows me to put away vast pieces of property , ” Keller said .
“ I want to save the world.
” Keller asserts the campaign against syndicated easements resulted from an unholy political deal between the Land Trust Alliance and IRS .
In September , he filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the IRS to force the release of correspondence between the two groups that he claims will provide smoking-gun evidence .
Land Trust Alliance CEO Andrew Bowman called the notion of such a conspiracy “ absurd.
” As he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bilked .
The intent of Congress is being violated .
And the future viability of land conservation is endangered .
The egregious profiteering the IRS has tracked … must end.
” At the urging of Bowman ’ s group , bipartisan congressional sponsors have , for the past three years , proposed legislation that would kill most syndications by limiting their profitability .
It would bar deductions that exceed two and a half times the investment for any easement partnership that owned the land for less than three years .
In July , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that passage of the latest incarnation , the “ Charitable Conservation Easement Program Integrity Act of 2019 , ” would , if enacted , produce $ 7.1 billion in additional tax revenue through 2021 .
The bill has yet to get out of committee .

In March 2019, the IRS added a scheme to its annual “Dirty Dozen” list of “the worst of the worst tax scams.” That same scheme was targeted, just weeks earlier, when the U.S. Department of Justice filed a fraud lawsuit against a handful of promoters allegedly responsible for generating more than $2 billion in improper tax write-offs. And the Senate Finance Committee has been investigating that very same racket, recently demanding thousands of pages of documents from six promoters. Lawmakers from both parties have introduced legislation to halt the same practice.
The scheme they’re all trying to kill is what’s called a “syndicated conservation easement,” which the IRS calls “abusive” and says has resulted in bogus deductions for the rich that have cost the U.S. Treasury billions in revenues.
A conservation easement, in its original, legitimate form, is granted when a landowner permanently protects pristine land from development. In that scenario, the public enjoys the benefit of undeveloped land and the taxpayer gets a charitable deduction. By contrast, the syndicated form, created and packaged by profit-seeking middlemen known as “promoters,” involves buying up land, finding an appraiser willing to declare that it has huge development value and thus is worth many times the purchase price, then selling stakes in the deal to wealthy investors who extract tax deductions that are often five or more times what they put in. (ProPublica investigated syndicated easements in the 2017 article “The Billion-Dollar Loophole.”)
But the multifront crackdown seems to be having, at best, a limited effect. There were signs that the pace of syndicated deals has eased, according to an IRS letter to Congress in July 2018 that cited incomplete data; that’s the most recent official statement from the agency, which declined to comment for this article. And some entities doing syndicated projects have seen their business drop or have even left the field. But IRS commissioner Chuck Rettig offered a different picture to the Senate Finance Committee this spring. “Syndicated transactions have absolutely not declined,” he testified. “They’re still there.”
In November, Rettig announced an escalation — including the launch of criminal investigations — in the agency’s attempts to stymie syndicated easements. “We will not stop in our pursuit of everyone involved in the creation, marketing, promotion and wrongful acquisition of artificial, highly inflated deductions based on these aggressive transactions,” he said in a statement at the time. Three IRS divisions are now conducting coordinated examinations of syndication deals after identifying 125 “high-risk cases,” and outside contractors have been hired to assist with the investigative load. More than 80 tax court cases are now pending against partnerships that used the syndicated easement deduction.
The imperviousness of the scam’s promoters and investors has left tax experts flummoxed. “Boy, it isn’t like the old days, when people were fearful of the IRS,” said Steven Miller, who oversaw enforcement and tax-exempt organizations during his 25 years at the IRS and is now national tax director with consulting firm Alliantgroup. “I’m worried people aren’t afraid of the cop on the beat any more.”
Another IRS veteran offered a similar view. “I thought by now they would have put these guys out of business,” said former agency commissioner John Koskinen, who took steps against syndicated easements before he left in late 2017. “Obviously, if you can get four to seven times your investment back in deductions, that’s a good deal. But you really have to have a lot of chutzpah to pull it off.”
Some promoters continue to flaunt their sales pitches. In November, for example, an Alabama promoter (which was not sued by the Justice Department) solicited high net-worth clients with an ad in Barron’s, promising, in capital letters, “TAX DEDUCTIONS AVAILABLE THROUGH CONSERVATION EASEMENTS…100,000 INVESTED YIELDS UP TO 600,000 IN DEDUCTIONS.”
And sizable deals are still being struck, including by an Atlanta firm called EcoVest Capital, a chief target of the Justice Department lawsuit. According to a private placement memorandum dated Oct. 24, which was obtained by ProPublica, EcoVest was planning as many as three new syndicated deals on 1,549 acres in rural Calhoun County, Texas. One, touting a deduction of $4.10 for every $1 invested, was completed by year-end. (The Justice Department suit, which is still in its early stage, asserted that EcoVest has been involved in 51 syndication easement deals since 2009, generating $1.7 billion in federal tax deductions.)
On their face, the risk disclosures to potential investors in a syndicated deal seem daunting. For example, the private placement memo for EcoVest’s Texas offering warned of a “very high likelihood that the Property Entity or the Company will be audited by the IRS.”
But experts cite several reasons for the stubborn survival of this tax-avoidance scheme. The first is that the IRS, which Congress has starved for funding, chiefly wields its clout through individual audits and tax court cases, which invariably take years. And even the dozens of tax court cases the IRS is pursuing target only a fraction of syndicated deals.
More important, the syndicated deals are structured in a way that insulate the wealthy individual investors, leaving the promoters and outside lawyers to do battle with the IRS. Their fight is fueled with “audit reserves” of as much as $1 million that are set aside as part of every syndication partnership. Some deals even offer “audit insurance” from Lloyds of London to offset disallowed write-offs.
“The way the structure works is pretty buttoned up,” Miller said. “The investor sits there and doesn’t see immediate pain. You’re not going to be bothered by the IRS at the front end. Some of them say: ‘Well, let me do the math. What’s the likelihood of that 40% penalty?’ That’s the calculation people are making.”
Miller believes the deterrent effect will kick in only if more cases personally target individual promoters and deal consultants with tough penalties and professional sanctions. “Ultimately,” he said, “they need to crush a few appraisers like a grape.”
The “linchpin” of the syndicated easements, Miller said, is the inflated appraisal. “How do I buy something today for a dollar and magically everything I buy is truly worth $10? That belies rational thought. You just scratch your head.”
Here’s how the appraisal worked in one syndicated deal described in the Justice Department complaint. In 2015, an EcoVest entity acquired 28 acres in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, for $1.1 million. The firm raised about $9 million from investors who bought the property, then made an easement donation based on a claimed value for what the land would be worth if developed as a multifamily resort. That projection, made by an appraiser hired by the promoters, produced a tax deduction of about $39.7 million. The tax writeoff for investors: $4.12 for every $1 invested.
In a written response to ProPublica’s questions, an EcoVest spokesperson called the government’s charges “baseless” and insisted that “none of the appraisals associated with EcoVest sponsored investments are abusive or fraudulent.”
One appraiser regularly retained by EcoVest and other syndicators also looms large in the Justice Department suit: Claud Clark III, based in Magnolia Springs, Alabama. The complaint notes his involvement in at least 58 syndicated easement deals and alleges that Clark, 66, “continually and repeatedly” generated “grossly overvalued appraisals.”
In January 2019, the Alabama state real estate appraiser board brought a formal complaint against Clark, after a detailed review of one of his easement appraisals found an inflated valuation riddled with errors and omissions. Threatened with loss of his Alabama license, Clark voluntarily surrendered it in April instead. He faces a second complaint filed with state regulators in Louisiana, regarding a 2018 appraisal he did for syndicators in Jefferson Davis Parish.
EcoVest has continued to use Clark. Its October private placement memorandum, which raised $19.3 million from investors, did not disclose that he had surrendered his appraisal license in his home state. (A spokesperson for EcoVest said Clark’s relinquishment of his Alabama license wasn’t disclosed “because, under securities laws, it was not material to whether Mr. Clark was authorized to issue an appraisal in Texas — a state with different appraisal rules, regulations, and practices.”)
Clark did not respond to requests for comment. On Christmas Eve, however, his attorneys filed a 130-page response and counterclaim to the Justice Department complaint, denying any inflated appraisals and accusing government officials, including the IRS commissioner, Rettig, of making “unlawful disclosures” of appraisal information from his tax returns in public statements about the litigation.
Promoters of syndicated conservation easements have long been at war with the supporters of traditional easements, who worry that abusive deals will prompt Congress to eliminate the tax break altogether. The traditional conservation community, embodied by the Land Trust Alliance, the Washington, D.C., association of nonprofit land trusts, began pressing the IRS to crack down nearly a decade ago. (Land trusts are a key part of the process: The rules for conservation easements require that any property donated to seek an easement deduction must be accepted and maintained by a land trust or government entity.) The Land Trust Alliance later refused to accredit any trust accepting syndicated deals.
The IRS’ attempt to crack down on syndicated easements dates back to December 2016, when the agency took the rare step of designating profit-making syndicated easements as abusive “listed” transactions. The IRS demanded special paperwork identifying everyone involved in such deals — from promoters and tax advisers to appraisers and investors — and warned that continued involvement would brand them for investigations and audits.
The agency next took its campaign to tax court, after refusing to back down on dozens of audits rejecting the fat write-offs and demanding back taxes, interest and penalties of up to 40%.
But with millions at stake, promoters have fought back fiercely. In 2016, they formed a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group, called Partnership for Conservation, which has spent more than $3 million to date on lobbyists. EcoVest has spent another $2.5 million.
The Partnership for Conservation defends the legitimacy of syndicated deals, arguing that the profit motive produces “tremendous opportunities” for conservation, according to Robert Ramsay, executive director of the organization. He said that the IRS should limit enforcement to cases of appraisal and valuation abuse, which he calls rare. “You have to stop with the premise that all of these are egregious and over the top,” Ramsay said. “I don’t think that’s the case.”
Among the syndicators’ most fervent supporters is Robert Keller, a conservation biologist who runs the Atlantic Coast Conservancy, a land trust in Jasper, Georgia, and has accepted more syndicated easements than anyone. Keller acknowledged in an interview that his business has slowed, declining from 56 easements in 2017 to 22 in 2019. His land trust is itself now also under IRS audit for 2014 through 2016. (One of the reasons for the decline in volume for Keller: Atlanta-based Ornstein-Schuler, among the most prolific syndicated-easement promoters, announced last January that it was abandoning the business, citing “recent developments and the uncertainty related to the conservation and gifting of property.”)
Keller’s land trust displays the slogan “Saving the world — One small piece at a time.” He is unapologetic about accepting syndicated easements. “For me, as a conservation biologist, this allows me to put away vast pieces of property,” Keller said. “I want to save the world.”
Keller asserts the campaign against syndicated easements resulted from an unholy political deal between the Land Trust Alliance and IRS. In September, he filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the IRS to force the release of correspondence between the two groups that he claims will provide smoking-gun evidence.
Land Trust Alliance CEO Andrew Bowman called the notion of such a conspiracy “absurd.” As he put it: “Taxpayers are being bilked. The intent of Congress is being violated. And the future viability of land conservation is endangered. The egregious profiteering the IRS has tracked … must end.”
At the urging of Bowman’s group, bipartisan congressional sponsors have, for the past three years, proposed legislation that would kill most syndications by limiting their profitability. It would bar deductions that exceed two and a half times the investment for any easement partnership that owned the land for less than three years.
In July, Congress’ Joint Committee on Taxation projected that passage of the latest incarnation, the “Charitable Conservation Easement Program Integrity Act of 2019,” would, if enacted, produce $7.1 billion in additional tax revenue through 2021. The bill has yet to get out of committee.


rawstory--2020-01-13--Trump sent aides out to lie about the Suliemani killing and now it has blown up in his face: Morning

Trump sent aides out to lie about the Suliemani killing and now it has blown up in his face: Morning Joe

According to the panel on MSNBC ’ s “ Morning Joe , ” any political benefit Donald Trump might have derived in killing Iranian military leader Qassem Suelimani with a drone attack was frittered away when the White House lied about the reasons for the killing — which has been exposed by top White House officials fumbling the cover story on morning cable shows .
As host Joe Scarborough explained , the downfall of the White House story has been the ever-changing details that show officials are making it up as they go along .
Reacting to Defense Secretary Mark @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cable shows where the best he could say was that President Trump “ believed ” multiple embassy attacks were planned — and then he admitted he had not seen any intel to confirm that — Scarborough stated , “ In the end , killing of Suleimani , probably most influential military leader across the Middle East over the past 30 years , when that isn ’ t enough , you had to make things up .
Of course , they made things up from the very beginning : the attack was imminent .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Why do you send people on Sunday shows ?
It ’ s not like everybody ever leaves and they ’ re like , wow .
that worked out well for us .
every week !
” he continued .
“ I should say , last weekend , you actually could tell from [ Secretary of State Mike ] Pompeo ’ s answers , that they were making up this stuff about him and Pompeo was having to push back and — it became very obvious after his 14th interview that Sunday that there @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he continued .
“ And now we , of course , find out that , from the Sec Def that Donald Trump was making stuff up , yeah , they were going to attack 87 embassies — no truth to it.
” Deeper into the segment , the host showed polls that reveal that Americans overwhelmingly feel less safe since the killing as well as another one showing a majority feel the president made a mistake .
You can watch below :

According to the panel on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," any political benefit Donald Trump might have derived in killing Iranian military leader Qassem Suleimani with a drone attack was frittered away when the White House allegedly lied about the reasons for the killing.
As host Joe Scarborough explained, the downfall of the White House story has been the ever-changing details that suggests officials are making it up as they go along.
Reacting to Defense Secretary Mark Esper's appearances on the Sunday cable shows where the best he could say was that President Trump "believed" multiple embassy attacks were planned -- and then he admitted he had not seen any intel to confirm that -- Scarborough stated, "In the end, killing of Suleimani, probably most influential military leader across the Middle East over the past 30 years, when that isn't enough, you had to make things up. Of course, they made things up from the very beginning: the attack was imminent. They were coming for us."
"Why do you send people on Sunday shows? It's not like everybody ever leaves and they're like, wow. That worked out well for us. Every week!" he continued.
"I should say, last weekend, you actually could tell from [Secretary of State Mike] Pompeo's answers, that they were making up this stuff about him and Pompeo was having to push back and -- it became very obvious after his 14th interview that Sunday that there was nothing imminent about it," he continued. "And now we, of course, find out that, from the Sec Def that Donald Trump was making stuff up, yeah, they were going to attack 87 embassies -- no truth to it."
Deeper into the segment, the host showed polls that reveal that Americans overwhelmingly feel less safe since the killing as well as another one showing a majority feel the president made a mistake.
You can watch below: