Tag: scandal
Worse Than Signalgate? New Security Lapse Bombshell Hits White House

Worse Than Signalgate? New Security Lapse Bombshell Hits White House

Less than two weeks ago there was SignalGate, the Trump administration’s national security scandal that potentially endangered the lives of U.S. service members, and risked exposing military plans, by using an insecure channel to discuss, map out, and announce progress of an attack in Yemen. Then there was the Trump administration’s passwords scandal, where passwords, email addresses, and phone numbers of top Trump national security officials were easily found online. And just yesterday, GmailGate, the Trump administration’s use of the even less-secure commercial email app, to conduct government business.

All three crises involved President Donald Trump’s national security team, including White House national security adviser Mike Waltz, who admitted to setting up the insecure Signal chat.

On Wednesday afternoon, Politico reported that Waltz’s team actually had set up 20 or more different Signal group chats, for national security crises.

“National security adviser Mike Waltz’s team regularly set up chats on Signal to coordinate official work on issues including Ukraine, China, Gaza, Middle East policy, Africa and Europe, according to four people who have been personally added to Signal chats,” according to Politico. “Two of the people said they were in or have direct knowledge of at least 20 such chats. All four said they saw instances of sensitive information being discussed.”

“Waltz built the entire NSC communications process on Signal,” said one of the four sources.

Experts have warned that the use of Signal in certain circumstances may violate national security regulations, as well as federal law surrounding retention of government communications.

The use of Signal on personal cell phones is also problematic because those mobile devices can easily be compromised, experts say. CISA, the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, has recommended the use of Signal instead of less secure platforms, but not for classified or sensitive communications.

“None of the four individuals said they were aware of whether any classified information was shared, but all said that posts in group chats did include sensitive details of national security work,” Politico noted.

Additionally, on Sunday, The Wall Street Journal reported more concerning national security lapses.

“Two U.S. officials also said that Waltz has created and hosted multiple other sensitive national-security conversations on Signal with cabinet members, including separate threads on how to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine as well as military operations. They declined to address if any classified information was posted in those chats,” the Journal reported. It was not clear if these were among the 20 or more chats Politico reported on Wednesday.

“In under 10 days, we’ve heard about journalists added to unclassified chats and sensitive data being shot around on personal emails,” lamented Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), the vice-chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee. “And now we’re hearing there’s dozens more chats. It’s a never-ending parade of sloppy, reckless incompetence.”

Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL), also responding to the latest news from Politico, wrote: “President Trump must put our troops and national security first. Waltz must step down. If he won’t, President Trump should fire him.”

Democratic congressional candidate Cait Conley is a former National Security Council official who “spent nearly 20 years in the military, including a stint working on counterterrorism for the National Security Council under former President Biden,” The New York Times has reported. She also worked at CISA, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

“This is not an Administration that’s serious about protecting America. Every person on those (20!) group chats should have known better,” Conley observed.

“The national security advisor continues to put our country at risk by using chats to discuss sensitive issues, allowing our adversaries to potentially intercept these messages,” commented Sabrina Singh, former deputy Pentagon press secretary and former special assistant to the president. “This is not putting America First – it’s the opposite.”

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA), a former Air Force JAG officer, wrote: “National Security Adviser Waltz should resign for repeatedly playing fast and loose with OpSec. Signal should not be used to discuss sensitive information. The Pentagon warned against using Signal even for unclassified information.”

MSNBC host Symone Sanders Townsend snarked, “Amateur hour at the OK Corral and that’s even offensive to the amateurs.”

“This is Trump’s CLOWN CAR CABINET!,” charged CNN commentator Maria Cardona. “Incompetent, unqualified, unserious. AND these massive national security blunders, put US all is SERIOUS danger! They need to go!!”

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Police Report Reveals Disturbing Details Of Hegseth Sex Assault Charge

Police Report Reveals Disturbing Details Of Hegseth Sex Assault Charge

The police report detailing the sexual assault allegations against Fox News host Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump's pick for secretary of defense, will make your stomach churn.

According to a 22-page report, Hegseth was accused of raping an unconscious victim in the early hours of October 8, 2017, at a hotel after a Republican women's conference event in Monterey, California. The alleged rape was first reported to police by an emergency room nurse who treated the victim.

The victim, listed as Jane Doe in the police report, said she believes she was drugged at the event at a Hyatt Hotel, and "cannot remember most of the night's events." The victim said she had approached Hegseth at the event and told him she "did not appreciate how he treated women" after she saw him rubbing women "on their legs.”

During the confrontation, Jane Doe remembered Hegseth telling her he was a “nice guy.”

The next thing she remembered was being in an unfamiliar hotel room and Hegseth blocking her from leaving it. She told the police he took her phone. Then she said that Hegseth was on top of her and that he ejaculated on her stomach and told her to "clean it up." She remembered “saying ‘no’ a lot,” according to the report.

Through an attorney, Hegseth claimed to The Washington Post that the encounter was consensual. However, he paid the woman to remain silent.

Hegseth’s attorney, Timothy Parlatore, added that the police determined that “the Complainant had been the aggressor in the encounter.”

However, the report does not corroborate that.

What the police report documents was that Hegseth and Jane Doe were seen arguing by a pool at the hotel. A hotel employee, who responded to the incident, said it was Hegseth who “began to curse” when the employee showed up, and told the employee that he had “freedom of speech.” How very Republican of him.

In a statement to The Washington Post, Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt did not address the sexual assault allegation and said Trump is standing by Hegseth to be secretary of Defense.

“Pete Hegseth is a highly-respected Combat Veteran who will honorably serve our country when he is confirmed as the next Secretary of Defense, just like he honorably served our country on the battlefield in uniform,” she said.

Hegseth is merely the latest Trump Cabinet nominee to be dogged by allegations of sexual impropriety.

Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, Trump’s pick for attorney general, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s pick for secretary of health and human services, have both been accused of sexual misconduct.

Gaetz’s nomination to head the Department of Justice is in peril as allegations that he paid a minor for sex at a drug-fueled party are dogging his confirmation.

The New York Times on Wednesday reported that federal investigators, who probed the allegations against Gaetz but decided against filing charges, had records of payments to the women who testified that they were paid for sex by Gaetz.

The House Ethics Committee also probed the allegations. But Republicans on the panel decided on Wednesday to block the report from being made public—apparently caving to the will of Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, who is trying to shield Gaetz from accountability.

The Hill newspaper reported on Thursday that Senate Republicans are worried that Gaetz's confirmation hearing will be like "Kavanaugh on steroids"—referring to the hearings for now-Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Trump's Supreme Court pick who was also accused of sexual assault.

But given the new details of the rape allegations against Hegseth, his confirmation hearing could be just as bad as Gaetz’s.

It’s unclear what will happen with Gaetz and Hegseth’s nominations. However, Republicans are good at making excuses for sexual assault. Trump himself was found liable for sexual abuse, and has been accused of sexual misconduct by dozens of women, yet Republicans have stood by him the entire time. A party that is fully rotten to the core.

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos.

Hacked Court Documents Implicate Gaetz In Misconduct Or Worse

Hacked Court Documents Implicate Gaetz In Misconduct Or Worse

Attorney General nominee Matt Gaetz's problems are growing by the day.

The New York Timesreported on Tuesday that a hacker obtained "damaging" testimony both from the Department of Justice investigation into the former congressman’s alleged child sex trafficking, and from the House Ethics Committee's probe into his alleged drug-fueled sex parties.

According to the Times, the hacker obtained 24 exhibits, including sworn testimony from two women: one who said she had sex with Gaetz when she was 17, and another who said she witnessed the two having sex.

The Times reported:

The material apparently taken by the hacker is unredacted and includes the names and other personal information of the witnesses but is otherwise said to be more damaging to Mr. Gaetz than to his accusers, according to the person familiar with the hack. The hacker had not contacted the lawyers as of Tuesday morning, and it was not clear what motive the person might have.

Also looming over Gaetz is whether the House Ethics Committee will release its report from its yearslong probe into a number of allegations around him, including whether he “may have engaged in sexual misconduct and/or illicit drug use, shared inappropriate images or videos on the House floor, misused state identification records, converted campaign funds to personal use, and/or accepted a bribe, improper gratuity, or impermissible gift, in violation of House Rules, laws, or other standards of conduct.”

The committee will meet on Wednesday to decide whether to publicly release the report.

House Speaker Mike Johnson is trying to help Trump get Gaetz confirmed by keeping the report private, saying the Ethics Committee shouldn’t release the report because it would “be a terrible precedent to set” and “open a Pandora’s box” by saying the committee could release information on other former members of Congress. Gaetz resigned his seat shortly after Trump nominated him as attorney general, likely in an effort to keep this report from becoming public since the committee no longer has jurisdiction over former members.

House Ethics Committee Chair Rep. Michael Guest of Mississippi said he won't be influenced by Johnson's desires.

“I appreciate Mike reaching out,” Guest told Politico, saying that Johnson called him to express his wishes for the report to remain sealed. “I don't see it having an impact on what we as a committee ultimately decide.”

Nearly 100 House Democrats also signed a letter urging the Ethics Committee to release the report.

From the letter:

We are aware that traditionally, the Ethics Committee stops investigations into alleged misconduct when a member of Congress resigns. However, there is precedent for the House and Senate ethics committees to continue their investigations and release findings after a member has resigned in a scandal. For example, the Committee continued investigating Rep. Eric Massa for inappropriate sexual behavior even after his resignation. Similarly, in 2011, the Senate Ethics Committee publicly released its report on Sen. John Ensign in the days following his resignation and forwarded the report to the Department of Justice and the Federal Election Commission.

We strongly believe that this situation meets or exceeds those standards. This is not a partisan issue. In a statement to reporters on November 14th, Republican Senator of Texas John Cornyn, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, noted, “I think that there should not be any limitations on the Senate Judiciary Committee’s investigation including whatever the House Ethics Committee has generated.”

Given the seriousness of the charges against Representative Gaetz, withholding the findings of your investigation may jeopardize the Senate's ability to provide fully informed, constitutionally required advice and consent regarding this nomination. Representative Gaetz’s abrupt resignation from Congress should not circumvent the Senate’s ability to fulfill its constitutional responsibilities.

We urge you to immediately release the Ethics Committee’s report into allegations of serious misconduct by former Congressman Matt Gaetz.

Meanwhile, Gaetz’s former House colleagues have been trashing Gaetz publicly.

Republican Rep. Max Miller of Ohio said that Gaetz is "literally worse than gum on the bottom of my shoe.”

“I’m looking at him as a member of Congress and the job that he has done here, and it has been abhorrent,” Miller told CNN. “I'm not the only one who thinks this way. I just say the quiet part out loud, and I wish other of my colleagues would have the same courage to do so.”

Republican Rep. Austin Scott of Georgia criticized Trump for nominating Gaetz in the first place, telling CNN of Trump’s decision to pick Gaetz, “It wasn't my decision to make, but I would have made it differently, I can tell you that."

What’s more, Politicoreported late on Monday that nearly a dozen Senate Republicans wouldn't commit to voting to confirm Gaetz. Of course, most Republicans are cowards who regularly cave to Trump, so you can't count on that many "no" votes in a potential confirmation vote. But the fact that they aren’t gung ho to defend Trump on this one is a telling signal that they don’t want to put their necks out for Gaetz.

Meanwhile, a poll from Echelon Insights, a Republican firm, found that Gaetz is the least popular of the cast of misfits Trump has so far nominated to serve in his administration. According to the survey, just 26 percent strongly or somewhat support Gaetz, while 37 percent strongly or somewhat oppose him—an 11-percentage-point deficit.

Even Trump seems to understand the peril Gaetz’s nomination is in.

The Timesreported that Trump believes Gaetz's chances at confirmation are less than 50-50.

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos.

Matt Gaetz

Florida Christian Conservative Says Choice Of Scandal-Ridden Gaetz Is 'Shocking

President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of Northwest Florida U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz to become attorney general is generating intense opposition, but it’s not just from Democrats in Washington.

Shortly after news broke Wednesday afternoon that Trump had nominated him, Gaetz stepped down from his seat representing Florida’s 1st Congressional District. His resignation came just days before before the House Ethics Committee was poised to vote on releasing a “highly damaging” report outlining its investigation of Gaetz, according to a report from Punchbowl News.

Mat Staver, founder and chairman of the Christian legal ministry Liberty Counsel in Orlando, fired off a blistering takedown the congressman on Thursday in a statement titled, “Matt Gaetz is not qualified to be U.S. Attorney General.”

“President-elect Donald Trump has quickly named many good choices to serve in his cabinet. But Matt Gaetz is not one of them,” Staver wrote.

“The nomination of Matt Gaetz as Attorney General is shocking and disappointing to those who have followed this man and the lurid scandals and serious allegations of sex parties and drugs during his tenure in the U.S. Congress. The resignation of Gaetz immediately after his name surfaced for Attorney General is inexplicable except for the fact this resignation now ends the U.S. House Ethics probe.

“Obviously, Gaetz does not want America to know the result of the Ethics investigation. Matt Gaetz has neither the experience nor the moral character to serve as the highest law enforcement officer of the United States of America. Gaetz should do President Trump and all of America a favor and withdraw his name from consideration. This will save him considerable embarrassment. America deserves better.”

Staver, an attorney who argued against placing the abortion-rights Amendment 4 on the ballot in front of the state Supreme Court last year, noted that Gaetz had fewer than three years of legal experience at a law firm in Fort Walton Beach before he began his political career in the Florida House of Representatives in 2010.

In a statement accompanying his written remarks, Staver references the multiple allegations of Gaetz indulging in sex and drugs (the House Ethics investigation involved allegations that he had sex with a minor).

Sex and drugs

“Numerous news articles have catalogued the serious allegations involving Gaetz, including using Venmo to pay women for sex, text messages, attending sex parties, and paying a minor for sex,” reads the statement.

Witnesses have testified that they have seen Gaetz at these sex parties taking drugs. And his close association with former Seminole Country Tax Collector, Joel Greenburg, adds to these serious allegations. Greenburg is now serving time in prison for using his position for illegal gain and arranging sex parties for his friends, including Gaetz.”

Meanwhile, John Clune, the attorney for the young woman with whom Gaetz is alleged to have had sex with when she was a minor, is now calling on the House Ethics Committee to release its report.

“Mr. Gaetz’s likely nomination as Attorney General is a perverse development in a truly dark series of events,” Clune said on X. “We would support the House Ethics Committee immediately releasing their report. She was a high school student and there were witnesses.”

Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, who sits on the Judiciary and Intelligence committees, has also called for release of the ethic report. “I don’t want there to be any limitation at all on what the Senate could consider,” he said.

Mitch Perry is the former politics reporter for Bay News 9. He has also worked at Florida Politics, Creative Loafing and WMNF Radio in Tampa. He was also part of the original staff when the Florida Phoenix was created in 2018.

This story originally appeared in the Florida Phoenix, which is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos.

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