Patterico's Pontifications

Say it ain’t so, Carney, say it ain’t so!

ropelight (b41bef) — 6/10/2013 @ 8:12 am

The item that stuck out to me was that State has its own police force!

So now Dept. of Ed, ATF, all have armed forces, and they use them.

Just like the data mining, this is totally out of control.

Patricia (be0117) — 6/10/2013 @ 8:24 am

I wanna know who the ambassador is what likes to pick up whores in the park

why are they protecting him

i bet he has hepatitis

ick

happyfeet (8ce051) — 6/10/2013 @ 8:31 am

Interesting. All of these agencies have their own in-house security/investigative arms that seem more interested in CYA activities than anything else.
Just think how much could be saved by getting rid of all the corruption.

MD in Philly (3d3f72) — 6/10/2013 @ 8:37 am

They’ll try to cover this up, too.

Kevin M (bf8ad7) — 6/10/2013 @ 8:38 am

You must remember, Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State for 4 years.

One of these scandals concerned Hillary Clinton’s personal security.

She seems to have protected people involved with prostitutes or drugs, or other personal weaknesses (this builds loyalty) although sometimes told to knock it off.

Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 6/10/2013 @ 8:48 am

John Miller also said that allegedly , and he emphasized allegedly, when hillary Clinton asked if we have any problems she was told know.

It seems like he suspects that is a false coverup leak.

Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 6/10/2013 @ 8:49 am

Oh trust us, Sammy. We do remember that Hillary C. was Secretary of State for 4 years.

elissa (f9c214) — 6/10/2013 @ 8:51 am

CBS News was kind of vague about when these events occurred. There’s not one date in the entire report.

Somebody even saw fit to leak something exonerating Hillary Clinton.

Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 6/10/2013 @ 9:05 am

So the whoremongering ambassador is apparently outed in an October 27, 2012 memo, was forced to meet with this Kennedy fellow in Washington at some point, then apparently the issue was settled by the time the December 12, 2012 report was issued. Shouldn’t it then be pretty easy to narrow down exactly which ambassador we are talking about, or do ambassadors regularly fly to Washington to meet with this Kennedy fellow?

JVW (23867e) — 6/10/2013 @ 9:07 am

Sammy, the dates appear in the memos which CBS showed on camera.

JVW (23867e) — 6/10/2013 @ 9:07 am

I also remember this:

Weiner’s Wife Didn’t Disclose Consulting Work She Did While Serving in State Dept. – New York Times, Friday May 17, 2013, page A16

The State Department, under Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton, created an arrangement for her longtime aide and confidante Huma Abedin to work for private clients as a consultant while serving as a top adviser in the department.

Ms. Abedin did not disclose the arrangement — or how much income she earned — on her financial report. It requires officials to make public any significant sources of income. An adviser to Mrs. Clinton, Philippe Reines, said that Ms. Abedin was not obligated to do so.

The disclosure of the agreement that Ms. Abedin made with the State Department comes as her husband, former Representative Anthony D. Weiner, a Democrat, prepares for a mayoral run in New York City. Politico reported the arrangement on Thursday afternoon…..Officials in the State Department and Clinton circles seem especially sensitive about the arrangement, and no one would speak about it on the record….

These jobs were pure patronage from Bill Clinton himself.

That probably goes as well for any money Anthony Weiner himself made in 2012.

Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 6/10/2013 @ 9:10 am

Gangster Government at its finest !

Elephant Stone (6a6f37) — 6/10/2013 @ 9:16 am

“It seems like he suspects that is a false coverup leak.”

Sammy – Rly?

daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 6/10/2013 @ 9:28 am

That’s our Sammy!

Half-right half of the time.

Icy (c5cb1e) — 6/10/2013 @ 9:40 am

The point is, John Miller seems to be skeptical of this claim that Hillary Clinton asked about problems and was told no.

Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 6/10/2013 @ 10:09 am

I played the video again, and it’s slow now, and I see that…I wasn’t looking at the picture all the time.

There really isn’t too much. We get nothing of the real contents, but we do get a few dates.

First there is a memo shown, several times, dated October 28, 2012. This obviously refers to things that hapepned before October 28, 2012. That was actually pretty obvious just from the words. I meant we didn’t get the time of the incidents.

Then there is a draft report, Senmestive but unclassified, dated 12/4/2012, which mentions 8 incidents.

Then there is the final report, which looks like it might be dated sometimee in January.

After that one person involved became a whistleblower.

Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 6/10/2013 @ 10:13 am

“The point is, John Miller seems to be skeptical of this claim that Hillary Clinton asked about problems and was told no.”

Sammy – So you think CBS ran a 6:46 segment on a ” false coverup leak” that nobody else has reported? Why would they do that?

daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 6/10/2013 @ 11:09 am

Sammy, tell us again how this proves that the Benghazi talking points really were pushed by the C.I.A. ?

Elephant Stone (6a6f37) — 6/10/2013 @ 11:16 am

There is a cancer growing upon the Presidency …
and it has spread from the Oval Office to Foggy Bottom, the bluffs of Arlington, and the swamps of Langley, and wherever else the appointments of B.H.Obama have reached.

askeptic (b8ab92) — 6/10/2013 @ 11:23 am

“The point is, John Miller seems to be skeptical of this claim that Hillary Clinton asked about problems and was told no.”

Comment by daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 6/10/2013 @ 11:09 am

Sammy – So you think CBS ran a 6:46 segment on a ” false coverup leak” that nobody else has reported? Why would they do that?

By “false coverup leak” I mean, as opposed to other, true leaks to CBS.

John Miller felt obliged to pass on what he was told about Hillary Clinton (he wasn’t entirely clear, but it sounds like something intended to exonerate her, and make it appear that whatever happened took place without her knowledge)

But he was sufficiently skeptical that he stressed that what he was told was merely “alleged” to be true.

Very few people, in repeating what CBS said, would pick up on that.

Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 6/10/2013 @ 11:47 am

You pretty much have to watch the segment to find out about the probably false coverup leak pointing to the innocence of Hillary Clinton that evidently came from somebody affiliated with the State Department.

It might even have happened (that she asked such a question) but for show, or to check out somebody else’s knowledge.

In thwe world of Hillary Clinton, if a tree falls in a forest, and nobody hears it, it didn’t happen.

And even more:

If it falls, and people hear it, but they stop repeating it, and make no arguments that use that as support, it can be treated like it didn’t happen, because it doesn’t have legs..

Only a few people know, and those who do, learn to pay no attention to it.

Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 6/10/2013 @ 11:52 am

19. Comment by Elephant Stone (6a6f37) — 6/10/2013 @ 11:16 am

Sammy, tell us again how this proves that the Benghazi talking points really were pushed by the C.I.A. ?

Well, what this goes to is why Hillary Clinton did not complain about the CIA version of events,
and even later stopped others from complaining,
but the lies didn’t originate there.

The back and forth on the emails makes that clear.

The State Department was trying to get stuff out of thw talking points, but never put anything in.

But what they were interested in getting out was not the question of whether there had been a demonstration or not in Benghazi – about which they never said anything.

What Hillary Clinton was interested in preventing was having them say anything that made it look like she should have expected the attack.

Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 6/10/2013 @ 12:07 pm

The talking points at one stage were full of
“warnings” the CIA gave (but all consistent with the unpremeditated theory)

One of the CIA “warnings” – maybe this one was added by Shawn S. Turner in Clapper’s outfit in the White House * – was about the cable that had been sent on Sept 10 to Cairo.

Now this makes sense as a “warning” only if both “protests” were about the video and both were mostly unplanned.

* But that was already on the list of items to work on when this started, so that looks more like the CIA.

In any case the CIA would have been the main source of the sooper sekrit intelligence
(two pages worth were told to Susan Rice on Saturday by somebody who had attended the deputies meeting) and the CIA had editorial control of the talking points.

Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 6/10/2013 @ 12:10 pm

“But he was sufficiently skeptical that he stressed that what he was told was merely “alleged” to be true.

Very few people, in repeating what CBS said, would pick up on that.”

Sammy – I think most people viewing that segment would pick up on the fact that the have a copy of the IG report, interviews with whistleblowers, but as yet no confirmation of what they are saying yet from others inside the State Depatment, which makes the use of the word “allegedly” entirely appropriate with respect to the segment.

daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 6/10/2013 @ 12:15 pm

When they first got the talking points, people in the State Department didn’t know what this was all about. They were just sent to the State Department without any explanation. I think we can assume Hillary Clinton was dishonest, or had no interest in the truth, but we cannot for all the others. They may not have been so close to her.

Victoria Nuland thought the talking points were testimony being prepared, and she asked if this was for a close hearing or an open hearing.

Then she was told this was material for members of the House Permanent Select Committee on intelligence to use themsleves. Then she asked why should the members of the committee be fingering Ansar al Sharia if they couldn’t do it themselves. (it seems like some people were afraid Brady material might be being created, should later on some other people be prosecuted,, or such was the argument brought forth by somebody or other in the State Department)

They want to ask Victoria Nuland at her upcominbg confoirmation hearing as assistant secretary for European and Eurasian affairs (probably to get her out of the way) what was said to her by Hillary Clinton and others, and that would be a very good thing to do.

Jake Sullivan of the State Department sent an e-mail saying he didn’t understand the purpose of this exercise.

http://i42.tinypic.com/2u8e98x.jpg

Tommy Vietor, the spokesman for the National Security Council wrote him back saying:

There is massive disinformation out there, particularly with Congress. They all think it was premeditated based on inaccurate assumptions and breiefings. So I think this is a response to not onky a tasking from the house intel committee but also NSC guidance that we need to brief members/press and correct the record.

Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 6/10/2013 @ 12:24 pm

The alleged thing was Hillary Clinton asking a question.

Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 6/10/2013 @ 12:25 pm

Good Lord, Sammy.

JD (129489) — 6/10/2013 @ 12:32 pm

Hillary Clinton asking if there is anything wrong is what was alleged. What else did John Miller stress was “alleged?”

Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 6/10/2013 @ 12:34 pm

Would it be better if we instituted policies so that future administrations had to be more accountable to the taxpayer?

For example, should we investigate and prosecute when White House officials trash hard drives, delete emails and destroy video tapes?

If we do this while one party is in office, then the next party will know they have a duty to preserve Presidential Records. Failure to do this seems to open the door for the next party to do the same.

Mahalia Cab (0e09f9) — 6/10/2013 @ 12:36 pm

MC must not remember that we went through this on the transition from Billary to GW.

But then, history is a failing for Progressives:
They never learned it, they never remember it, and they never learn from it.

askeptic (b8ab92) — 6/10/2013 @ 12:42 pm

DRJ, the cronies don’t want gov’t jobs, there’s no opportunity there (or at least it’s a much diminished one) for raking-off the graft that the system has promised them, Chicago-style.

askeptic (b8ab92) — 6/10/2013 @ 12:53 pm

BOOOOOOSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 6/10/2013 @ 12:54 pm

32- Oops, wrong thread, should have been over at “Leaker”.

askeptic (b8ab92) — 6/10/2013 @ 12:55 pm

Here we have Benjamin Rhodes, deputy national security adviser for strategic communication, a former speechwriter who coined the term “kinetic military action, and wrote a lot of Obama’s recent end of the war on terror speech, saying:

http://i42.tinypic.com/2wflqn8.jpg

There is a ton of wrong information geting out into the public domain from Congress from people who are not particularly informed….we need to have the capacity to correct the record, as there are significant policy and messaging ramifications that would flow from a hardened misimpression.

Steve 57 in fact, at comment, 42 here:

https://patterico.com/2013/05/21/report-more-benghazi-whistleblowers-coming

thought Vietgor and Rhodes had originated it
themselves (although they clearly point to the NSC, so it’s not them personally at any rate)

Sammy, the stupid “demonstration over a video” story came from the WH, and most likely National Security staffers Vietor and Rhodes.

Now the question is, did the NSC come up with that themselves?

I don’t think that’s possible, and it’s in the talking points right at the beginning. additionally, in the list of Due-outs, for David Petraeus, the DCIA, there’s already something about the cable they sent to Cairo on Sept 10) warning of protests “linked to the film” which apparently he wants a synopsis of. That’s why he didn’t like it when that, too, was removed from the talking points, because he thought that was the key thing to know.

http://i44.tinypic.com/3128ktf.jpg

Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 6/10/2013 @ 12:56 pm

And if they did invent the whole idea of a protest about a video at the NSC, it is hard to think the CIA would just play along without any leak till today’s day.

And the cable presumably is real, and I think it’s pretty clear the cable must have stressed the video, not the freeing Sheik Omar Abdul Rahman and other jihadists. Else why the tweets from Cairo? To fool Americans?

I think Vietor and Rhodes really thought other people had the disinformation.

I think Obama was actually the target of disinformation about the attack in Benghazi being spontaneous. (And it went through the CIA)

But this was such good news to the people in the White House they wanted to make sure everybody knew, which kind of undermined the whole thing.

Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 6/10/2013 @ 12:56 pm

“Would it be better if we instituted policies so that future administrations had to be more accountable to the taxpayer?”

Mahalia – Why not start with the current administration? If it survives it still has 3 1/2 years to go.

daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 6/10/2013 @ 12:57 pm

Accountability….
Tar, Feathers, Pitchforks, Torches, and a Rail to Ride.
It worked in the past, it can work again.

askeptic (b8ab92) — 6/10/2013 @ 1:03 pm

daleyrocks, are you trying to interrupt the Sammy Finkelman Show?

SPQR (768505) — 6/10/2013 @ 1:04 pm

Tommy Vietor, resigned from the NSC and now a talking head, is still in the news:

On the Sunday Morning Talk Shows, a Rather Familiar Cast of Characters – New York Times Sunday June 9, 2013, page A19

Mrs. Clinton avoided the Sunday talk shows for most of her short Senate career and wisely avoided the cameras after the Benghazi episode; Mr. Obama also stayed away when he was a senator, recalled Tommy Vietor, a former spokesman for the National Security Council, until Hurricane Katrina.

“That was around an event and a message,” Mr. Vietor said. “It made sense to do it. To go on as a lawmaker and play pundit minimizes you as a lawmaker.”

Obama was only a Senator for a few months before Hurricane Katrina!

I suppose you could say there were a lot of people who wanted him on talk shows right when he was sworn in, he was so touted and famous so he really did wait a lot until he agreed.

Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 6/10/2013 @ 1:04 pm

No, I think Daleyrocks and Mahalia are trying to enter something on another thread.

Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 6/10/2013 @ 1:05 pm

Sammy needs a dedicated thread.

DRJ (a83b8b) — 6/10/2013 @ 1:09 pm

3. Comment by happyfeet (8ce051) — 6/10/2013 @ 8:31

I wanna know who the ambassador is what likes to pick up whores in the park

I think John Miller knows – he’s got to, in order to stay he’s still Ambassador there, but he’s not saying.

Now if you listened carefully to the report, you’ll see that nobody actually concluded that the ambassador saw prostitutes in the park.)

Let’s hope that’s all it was. The first question is, did he have a history of doing this in his home city?

They said he slipped away from his security (and they didn’t even say for sure he went into the park.)

John Miller said there were a lot of foreign intelligence agencies there.

What if the Ambassador was not going into the park to see prostitutes, but rather to see spies? Or a dead drop?

Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 6/10/2013 @ 1:12 pm

why are they protecting him

Hillary Clinton knew. She may have her own secret relationships.

As I said, there is a person, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, now head of intelligence of Saudi Arabia, who probably murdered Vincent Foster, and got President Clinton’s assistance in covering it up.

Which gets you to Benghazi and why she didn”t fight what the CIA was saying. Since this may have been the main source of sooper sekrit intelligence.

Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 6/10/2013 @ 1:14 pm

I need to go to the store and buy some more tin-foil.

askeptic (b8ab92) — 6/10/2013 @ 1:16 pm

there’s a lot about this story cbs hasn’t nailed down

this is not how you win a pulitzer

happyfeet (c60db2) — 6/10/2013 @ 1:18 pm

joke Breaking … CBS News reports that CBS News is covering up CBS News coverups of scandals … /joke

htom (412a17) — 6/10/2013 @ 1:31 pm

“Sammy needs a dedicated thread.”

DRJ – Or a blog – Reality Deniers

daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 6/10/2013 @ 2:09 pm

“Now if you listened carefully to the report, you’ll see that nobody actually concluded that the ambassador saw prostitutes in the park.”

Sammy – I listened carefully and that is the exact opposite of what I heard.

daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 6/10/2013 @ 2:14 pm

You didn’t listen carefully enough. It’s not even clear there were prostitutes in the park.

Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 6/10/2013 @ 2:44 pm

Comment by daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 6/10/2013 @ 2:09 pm

delusionsareus.com

askeptic (b8ab92) — 6/10/2013 @ 3:04 pm

What’s amazing about all this is that liberal idiots (BIRM) in the chattering classes would be shocked — shocked — at the notion that a Chicago kleptocracy administration possibly could be engaging in a government by corruption that would make Daley Sr. and Daley Jr. blush. Alas, then they’d go right back to counting their generation-skipping trust fund monies and wondering whether to have Ciroc or Grey Goose at tonight’s cocktail party. Ah, well.

That aside, with last November long since having turned into a blur in the public’s rear view mirrors I suspect we might see the liberal media over the next year or so engaging in a very slight modicum of actual reporting. Not too much, of course. Not anything all too sentient much less incisive. But it’s safe for them now partially to take their heads out of Obama’s arse and until we get to fall 2014 there’s not much of a reason for them to engage in a 24/7 Obama love fest. At least not on CBS. NBC and its ilk and most of the print media are another story.

William Scalia (4fc30a) — 6/10/2013 @ 3:22 pm

The Independent, 4/3/12, described a “honey trap” allegedly being run by Russian spy Anna Chapman.

FBI head of counterintelligence Frank Figliuzzi was quoted as saying that the spy ring was “getting close enough to a sitting US cabinet member that we thought we could no longer allow this to continue.”

Speculation at the time centered on 3 names, Tim Geithner, Peter Orszag, and Hillary Clinton.

ropelight (b41bef) — 6/10/2013 @ 3:43 pm

Here’s a recording if IRS saying “keep your religion to yourself”.

http://radio.foxnews.com/toddstarnes/top-stories/irs-agent-keep-faith-to-yourself.html

peedoffamerican (ee1de0) — 6/10/2013 @ 4:08 pm

“It’s not even clear there were prostitutes in the park.”

Sammy – There are always prostitutes in the park.

daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 6/10/2013 @ 4:23 pm

Sammy needs a dedicated thread.

Comment by DRJ (a83b8b) — 6/10/2013 @ 1:09 pm

Sammy needs a muzzle placed on his hands.

peedoffamerican (ee1de0) — 6/10/2013 @ 4:32 pm

OT: Recently hubs participated in an evening program in a sort of debate or conversation with Virginia Gov Bob McDonnell at St John’s church, in the persona of Patrick Henry, Virginia’s 1st elected gov. (moderated by UR president Edward Ayres).

The full program is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuKZW9FYpFw

If you have time to view a minute of two, some hip and happenin’ and pulled from today’s headlines parts are at 5:00 and 14:03

SarahW (b0e533) — 6/10/2013 @ 4:41 pm

Sammy IS a dedicated thread.

Icy (c5cb1e) — 6/10/2013 @ 4:41 pm

Thanks for that, Sarah. Very interesting and entertaining. And not a teleprompter in sight.

PatAZ (bf8b98) — 6/10/2013 @ 6:00 pm

Icy – Sammy is dedicated, that’s for sure.

JD (b63a52) — 6/10/2013 @ 6:10 pm

‘He really cares, about what I have no idea’

narciso (3fec35) — 6/10/2013 @ 6:15 pm

Sammy, this is interesting—how do you know so much about the skin trade in Belgian parks ?

Elephant Stone (da6dfd) — 6/10/2013 @ 8:17 pm

Sammy, this is interesting—how do you know so much about the skin trade in Belgian parks ?

He’s a pseudointellectual. He’s the Cliff Clavin of Patterico

Amalgamated Cliff Divers, Local 157 (f7d5ba) — 6/11/2013 @ 1:43 am

“Would it be better if we instituted policies so that future administrations had to be more accountable to the taxpayer?”

Mahalia – Why not start with the current administration? If it survives it still has 3 1/2 years to go.

Comment by daleyrocks

daleyrocks, do you realize how baldly that comment shows your partisan hypocrisy?

If we are talking about prosecutions for cover ups, but only target Obama, how is that different from the complaints about the IRS? We should go after everyone equally, Obama, Bush, Rove, Reagan, Clinton, whoever provably broke the law.

In the case of the PRA, the White House is not only required to preserve all records, but to maintain redundant back ups in case anything should happen to the original. FAIL.

This is supposed to be a violation, but if Eric Holder is successful in stonewalling and withholding documents today, we can point directly to the ignorance and apathy of Congress and the public in letting the previous administration get away with far, far worse. Remember, the hard drives Rove is accused to have trashed would either have proven his guilt or innocence in Plamegate and the question of whether Iraq WMD intel was fabricated. Not important enough for ya?

All those families who lost loved ones searching for those WMD have a right to know if the Bush administration whistleblowers are correct and the WMD claims were intentional lies. But Rove wiped out the records and got away with it. Fast forward a few years and you are complaining about a lack of transparency?

So what now is as important as lying to Congress about WMD? You want to see if blaming the YouTube video was an intentional lie, or to see if Obama’s inner circle ordered the IRS to make the tea party jump through hoops. Are you not recognizing the comparative importance when you say let’s just worry about the current administration and give all the others a pass?

This illustrates unprincipled partisanship. I’d say instead, let’s call for transparency and accountability and prosecute all crimes evenhandedly, no matter where the evidence goes.

Mahalia Cab (569906) — 6/11/2013 @ 12:44 pm

Most ethical administration evah;

http://minx.cc/?post=340796

narciso (3fec35) — 6/11/2013 @ 12:46 pm

I just don’t think prostitution in parks is so common, and also nobody actually saw that.

Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 6/11/2013 @ 1:23 pm

“I just don’t think prostitution in parks is so common”

Sammy – You just go to the wrong parks.

daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 6/11/2013 @ 2:10 pm

“daleyrocks, do you realize how baldly that comment shows your partisan hypocrisy?”

Mahalia – You are funny! Your’s is actually the one that smacks of partisanship by suggesting that we have to wait more than 3 1/2 years before we can begin holding our government accountable when there is not barrier to passing the required laws now except for recalcitrant Democrats.

daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 6/11/2013 @ 2:15 pm

John Miller said on CBS This Morning that a criminalk investigation was stopped in the middle. Now it may have continued he said, under another person, because he had heard the Ambassador was called back and met with someone, but that would be very unusual.

I could think of some other ideas too, like secret diplomacy.

Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 6/11/2013 @ 2:24 pm

The name of the Ambassador is known. There was a front page article in teh New York Post today and on page 6 and 7 the name of the Ambassador and where he is is given. It has now been poicked up by the Daily News online.

It is Howard Gutman, Ambassador to Belguim (that’s a place with a lot of spy agencies working there? I didn’t known the European Unuion wa sthat important)

It all started when a SID agent was conducting a separate investigation in Brussels and then was told about posisble criminal behavior involving teh Ambassador. Presumably that he was ditching his security. So he started his own investigation and determined that he was routinely ditching it to get sexual favors from both prostitutres and minor children.

Both??

This sounds like maybe a cover story he was told to explain the Ambassador’s absences.

Howard Gutman was a bit known before for saying that if you solved the israeli-Palestianin issue, you’d get rid of anti-semitismn among Muslims in Europe. In his words: “an Israeli-Palestinian peace treaty will significantly diminish Muslim anti-Semitism.” [The speech may have been misquoted to say something worse maybe a la what Thomas Jefferson did about Sally Hemings]

I’m not sure if he is the same Howard Gutman who was a lawyer for Arthur Coia, president of the Laborers Union in the 1990s.

http://www.nytimes.com/1996/07/14/us/republicans-questioning-federal-deal-with-union.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm

In two weeks, the House Subcommittee on Crime will begin hearings to examine whether improper political interference caused the Justice Department to go easy on Mr. Coia. Republicans say the deal is suspect because whenever the Justice Department confronted a corrupt union in the past, it filed suit to remove the leadership and seize control.

If so he would be close to the Clintons.

For many years (1982 to 1985, and again 1986 till ? Wikipedia doesn’t say, but it does say he had a 25-year career) he was a member of the infamous law firm of Williams & Connolly LLP. (it represented the mob, and Bill Clinton)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Gutman

Gutman will leave his post as ambassador on July 23, 2013

Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 6/11/2013 @ 2:38 pm

Well we see a pattern, here, somewhat like the Secret Service agent in Colombia

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/04/18/Obama-war-working-women

narciso (3fec35) — 6/11/2013 @ 2:54 pm

“This sounds like maybe a cover story he was told to explain the Ambassador’s absences.”

Sammy – The explanation was listed as a finding for further investigation by the DSS auditors. Auditors don’t list something that damaging on paper unless they are damn sure of their evidence. That is not the way auditors work.

Do yourself a favor and search prostitution in Brussels. You will see plenty of info about both adult and minor sex workers.

daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 6/11/2013 @ 3:06 pm

Gutman. Obama bundler. There’s your pattern.

elissa (0bd6f8) — 6/11/2013 @ 9:58 pm

The CBS News report says

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505263_162-57588456/state-department-memo-reveals-possible-cover-ups-halted-investigations?tag=twitter

at about 2:30: (2:28 to 2:35)

The Dec 4 memo said the Ambassador

“routinely ditched his protective security detail”

And they suspected – which means nobody observed this.

they suspected the purpose was: “to solicit sexual faviors from…prostitutes”

So what we know as a fact is that he dicthehd his security detail.

Now all of this is consistent with secret diplomacy, or meeting with informants, or corruption, possibly done behind President Barack Obama’s back.

Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 6/12/2013 @ 2:45 pm

The location for prostitution in Brussels is said to be the Rue d’Aerschot located next to next to the Brussels North Station.

The Ambassador said he lived facing a park and that he had to walk through the park to get to many places. He conspicuously did not deny that he ditched his security.

So the question is for what kind of a Sooper Sekrit reason was he ditching his security?

Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 6/12/2013 @ 2:51 pm

Hillary Clinton is exactly the kind of person who, instead of telling the investigators whatever it was, or something close, would let them believe Ambassador Howard Gutman was seeing prostitutes.

That way she could keep his real purpose more secret, because having their “answer”, the investigators would cease investigating.

On the other hand, she could stop investigations, by clueing in very high ranking people with some version of the truth.

Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 6/12/2013 @ 2:53 pm

I find in my archives for Arutz Sheva news of
Kislev 8, 5772 / Sunday, Dec. 04 ’11:

6. Obama in Hot Water Over Envoy’s Anti-Israel Remarks by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

The White House hurriedly distanced itself from an ambassador’s blaming Israel for fueling anti-Semitism because of the standoff with the
Palestinian Authority.

[Strictly spoeaking, he did not blame Israel, because to do that he would have to blame Israel for the lack of a peace agreement. rather, he was excusinmg anti-semitism in europe and saying it would all go away as soon as the Arab Israeli dispute was settled. He was also saying Moslems shouldn’t be held to the same standards as Christians.]

Howard Gutman, U.S. Ambassador to Belgium, told a conference of Jewish lawyers last week, “”A distinction should be made between traditional anti-Semitism, which should be condemned and Muslim hatred for Jews, which stems from the
ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.”

Gutman added that reaching a peace pact with the Palestinian Authority will reduce anti-Semitism. He was speaking at a conference on how to combat
anti-Semitism, which he claimed is not worsening.

His remarks reflect views of the State Department, which has been conducting a
behind-the-scenes campaign for more than 30 years to eliminate a Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria.

Gutman, who helped raised half a million dollars for President Barack Obama’s presidential campaign in 2008, surprised the lawyers’ conference with his remarks after telling the lawyers they would “not hear what they expect.”

He also surprised the White House, which quickly issued a statement that “we condemn anti-Semitism in all its forms.” It added, “There is never any
justification for prejudice against the Jewish people or Israel.”

Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich did not miss a beat and sent a Twitter message, “Pres Obama should fire his ambassador to Brussels for being so wrong about anti-Semitism.”

Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 6/12/2013 @ 2:59 pm

“And they suspected – which means nobody observed this.”

Sammy – Have you read the reports? Your conclusion with respect to what it means is worthless.

daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 6/12/2013 @ 3:04 pm

He may have been in secret contact with some Muslims or representatives of some Arab or Muslim country.

Unlikely? Not as unlikely as someone his age, and with his money, seeing prostitutes in the street, and not just one kind of prostitute apparently, and never being observed too.

Not once in his life, as far as we know.

For background: For one year during the Reagan Administration (1985-1986), Howard Gutmnan was Special Assistant to F.B.I. Director William H. Webster, focusing on counter-intelligence and counter-terrorism.

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/128684.htm

Earlier in his career, Mr. Gutman served as a Special Assistant to F.B.I Director William H. Webster, focusing on counter-terrorism and counter-intelligence

So being selected for this kind of a job is not so unusual. He has a crednetial, although the real reason would have been his poolitical conmnections, but there are other ambassadors with political connections. But they never worked in intelligence.

Now supposing he wanted to meet people in secret, or without that being on his log, and the option of just ditching his security was no longer viable after this started, he may have found another way: He started taking trips all through Belguim:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Gutman

He also had the goal of visiting each of the 589 municipalities in Belgium. His intention was not only to visit managers and politicians, but also ordinary citizens and employees. On May 5, 2013 he completed his tour when he visited the last municipality on his list, Voeren…

Excellent cover, maybe.

What we need to know is why was he ditching his security. It’s probably not something really good.

I highly doubt it was for purposes of patronizing prostitutes. But it was something less personal.

Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 6/12/2013 @ 3:12 pm

78.“And they suspected – which means nobody observed this.”

Sammy – Have you read the reports? Your conclusion with respect to what it means is worthless.

No, But John Miller did and that’s how he (or CBS) summarized it.

The investigators knew he had ditched his security, but they only “suspected” it was “to solicit sexual faviors from…prostitutes”

If the wording had been stronger, if he had been observed, CBS would not have substitute dthe word “suspected”

I suspect they had a Hillary-Clinton sent informant who lied..

Look what’s in quotation marks, and what’s not in quotation marks at 2:28 to 2:35 here:

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505263_162-57588456/state-department-memo-reveals-possible-cover-ups-halted-investigations?tag=twitter

The words in quoatation marks are I think the only words I’ve seen that came from the December 4 report.

Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 6/12/2013 @ 3:17 pm

He’s a former atty for Williams and Connolly, defended a Bolivian president at one time, but besides his fundraising acumen, he doesn’t speaking Flemish or Walloon, he like Larry Persilly, who got the plumb job overseeing the pipeline, badmouthed Sarah, it turns out he is the David Letterman or the Anthony Weiner of the Foreign Service, second only to Brett McGuirk, who enjoyed a very special perspective on the city of Baghdad, ahem.

narciso (3fec35) — 6/12/2013 @ 3:23 pm

Did you skip your nap today Sammy?

daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 6/12/2013 @ 3:35 pm

Page 6 (on page 14) of New York Post of June 12, 2013

CBS News had the story for weeks, but was waiting for comment from the State Department. Finally, CBS News president David Rhodes said to go ahead without it.

The article is about Scott Pelley of the CBS Evening news supposedly being angry that the story broke on “This Morning” and then in retaliation not running the story on the evening news. Scott Pelley got angry at page Six for saying that, and for calling his publicist and not him in his office.

He said that they had written that story for “This Morning” on Friday. he said there was too much news on Monday to fit it in on the Evening news on Monday. They had John Miller on but he spent time talking about the NSA leaker. I think they had reserved a block of time to cover the death of Nelson Mandela)

The CBS Evening News covered this yesterday and today.

The State Department had brought some other investigators to look at their investigation.

They had John Kerry speaking a bit about his confidence in whatever.

Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 6/12/2013 @ 4:40 pm

6/10/2013

CBS News Report: State Department Engaged in Coverups of Coverups

83 Responses to “CBS News Report: State Department Engaged in Coverups of Coverups”

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