95.1 The Bee

Congressional Democrats issued a subpoena for U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry on Thursday, regarding the possible role he played in President Donald Trump’s effort to get Ukraine’s president to investigate a political rival.

The letter from the chairmen of the Oversight, Intelligence and Foreign Affairs committees wrote in a letter to Perry, “recently, public reports have raised questions about any role you may have played in conveying or reinforcing the President’s stark message to the Ukrainian President.”  

The White House said on Tuesday it would refuse to cooperate with the congressional impeachment inquiry, hours after the administration abruptly blocked a key witness in the Ukraine scandal from testifying to congressional panels.

House Democrats subpoena Rick Perry in impeachment inquiry

Via thehill.com

House Democrats on Thursday subpoenaed Energy Secretary Rick Perry James … testimony from…

10/10/2019 4:29 PM

 

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According to court documents released Thursday, two associates of Rudy Giuliani — who have been linked to his investigations in Ukraine — have been indicted for campaign finance violations.

Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman are accused of using a limited liability company to make political contributions related to American elections, in violation of FEC prohibitions against contributions from foreign nationals. Both men have been linked to Giuliani’s efforts to conduct investigations in Ukraine.

Parnas and Fruman were arrested Wednesday at Dulles International Airport in Virginia. Giuliani, an attorney for President Trump, said he finds it “extremely suspicious” that the arrest was made in connection with an FEC matter that has yet to be resolved, and which Giuliani said is a civil matter. Giuliani acknowledged that both men “logistically helped” in his collection of evidence against Hunter Biden, and that they helped connect him with former Ukrainian top prosecutors Viktor Shokin and Yuriy Lutsenko.

2 men with ties to Giuliani arrested on campaign finance charges, bond set at $1M

Via abcnews.go.com

Two men who assisted Rudy Giuliani in his efforts to investigate former Vice President Joe…

10/10/2019 4:18 PM

 

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Federal prosecutors have revealed that an employee of the Defense Intelligence Agency in northern Virginia was arrested Wednesday, charged with leaking top secret information to two journalists, one of whom he was romantically involved with. The Justice Department says Henry Kyle Frese, 30, of Alexandria, Virginia, leaked government secrets involving a foreign country’s weapons system in 2018 and 2019.

John Demers, assistant attorney general for national security, said in a press release: “Frese was caught red-handed disclosing sensitive national security information for personal gain.”  Demers called it “a betrayal that risked harming the national security of this country.” Prosecutors also said Frese and one of the reporters had the same home address for a year and were “involved in a romantic relationship for some or all of that period of time,” according to a search warrant application. 

Frese was arrested without incident Wednesday morning when he reported for work, officials said.

Defense analyst charged with leaking information to a journalist

Via www.washingtonexaminer.com

An analyst with the Defense Intelligence Agency is facing charges for allegedly leaking…

10/09/2019 3:04 PM

 

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Turkey began a planned military offensive into northeastern Syria on Wednesday, launching airstrikes and artillery fire across the border. The airstrike comes just days after the Trump administration announced it was pulling US troops back from the area.

The operation is aimed at pushing Kurdish forces — who were a key ally of the US in the fight against ISIS — away from Turkey’s border. Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan tweeted as he announced the start of the operation: “Our aim is to destroy the terror corridor which is trying to be established on our southern border and to bring peace and peace to the region.” The SDF tweeted that two civilians had been killed and two others injured in the village of Misharrafa, west of Ras al-Ain.

The offensive comes days after US President Donald Trump announced the pullback of US military forces from northeast Syria. Trump defended his decision to withdraw troops from northern Syria on Wednesday, but added that the US “does not endorse” Turkey’s operation. The President said in a statement from the White House: “The United States does not endorse this attack and has made it clear to Turkey that this operation is a bad idea.”

Turkey launches airstrikes in Syria after Trump announces U.S. pullback

Via www.nbcnews.com

The U.S. military began pulling back its forces from the Turkish border after the White House…

10/09/2019 4:07 PM

 

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