Category: 2016

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The U.S. Stock Market Isn’t Going Clinton’s Way

market sell off

Rebecca Spalding @rcurtisspalding

S&P 500 down 3.2% since Aug. 8, a good sign for challenger
Market correctly signals outcome 86 percent of time since 1928

Few institutions have a better track record calling presidential races than the U.S. stock market. At the moment, it’s sending information that counts against Democrat Hillary Clinton.

The performance of the S&P 500 Index has signaled the outcome of every presidential election since 1984, according to an analysis by Strategas Research Partners LLC. A gain in the benchmark for American equity in the three months prior to the vote has seen the incumbent party win 86 percent of the time since 1928. Right now, the benchmark gauge is down 3.6 percent since Aug. 8 with just a week until the vote, a fact that in isolation augurs well for Donald Trump.

Aside from the three-month interval, the S&P 500 fell Tuesday by the most in three weeks, slipping for a sixth day to 2,111.72, making its first foray below 2,100 since July 7 before rebounding. The gauge is in its longest slide since August 2015 amid polls showing the race for the White House is tightening. The CBOE Volatility Index surged Tuesday by 9 percent to the highest since June 27.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-11-01/one-poll-that-isn-t-going-clinton-s-way-is-the-u-s-stock-market

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Influence peddling, acting for Putin’s ally, hiding classified secrets and sexting – how FIVE separate FBI cases are probing virtually every one of Clinton’s inner circle and their families

hillary-clinton-what-difference-does-it-make

Scale of FBI investigations into Clinton’s closest aides and friends is becoming clear
Besides Huma Abedin,  a swathe of long-time loyalists are at the center of investigations including Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe
John Podesta ran the Clinton Foundation which is under investigation while his brother Tony is also focus of a probe about foreign corruption
Cheryl Mills already received limited FBI immunity during Clinton email investigation – and is key Clinton fixer
String of other names are being looked at or have been caught up in earlier scandals

By DAILYMAIL.COM REPORTERS

PUBLISHED: 09:32 EDT, 1 November 2016 | UPDATED: 14:56 EDT, 1 November 2016

The extent to which Hillary Clinton’s key advisers are now the focus of major FBI investigations is becoming clear.

The Clintons’ long-term inner-circle – some of whom stretch back in service to the very first days of Bill’s White House – are being examined in at least five separate investigations.

The scale of the FBI’s interest in some of America’s most powerful political fixers – one of them a sitting governor – underlines just how difficult it will be for Clinton to shake off the taint of scandal if she enters the White House.

There are, in fact, not one but five separate FBI investigations which involve members of Clinton’s inner circle or their closest relatives – the people at the center of what has come to be known as Clintonworld.

The five known investigations are into: Anthony Weiner, Huma Abedin’s estranged husband sexting a 15-year-old; the handling of classified material by Clinton and her staff on her private email server; questions over whether the Clinton Foundation was used as a front for influence-peddling; whether the Virginia governor broke laws about foreign donations; and whether Hillary’s campaign chairman’s brother did the same.

The progress of the Clinton Foundation investigation and that into McAuliffe was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

The FBI does not generally comment on investigations, so it is entirely possible there are more under way.

Here are the advisers and consiglieri – and how the FBI is looking at them

Read more: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3889994/Influence-peddling-acting-Putin-s-ally-hiding-classified-secrets-sexting-FIVE-separate-FBI-cases-probing-virtually-one-Clinton-s-inner-circle-families.html#ixzz4Oo0hDHbN

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Obama Doesn’t Believe FBI Director Trying to Influence Election With Clinton Email Investigation

130529194838 james comey story top

By MEGHAN KENEALLY
JORDYN PHELPS

Oct 31, 2016, 3:33 PM ET

The White House says it will remain neutral regarding the reopening of an investigation of Hillary Clinton’s use of a private server, after the discovery of more emails that FBI Director James Comey said may be relevant.

After a letter from Comey to Congress on Friday, which stated that new emails found on a laptop used by Clinton aide Huma Abedin “appear to be pertinent to our investigation,” members of both parties have criticized the timing of the move.

Today the White House declined to state an opinion on Comey’s action.

“I’ll neither defend nor criticize what Director Comey has decided to communicate to the public about this investigation,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said in Monday’s press briefing.

In an effort to stay neutral on the topic, Earnest said, the White House will continue to be “scrupulous” in “avoiding even the appearance of political interference” in the investigation entrusted to the Department of Justice and the FBI.

He also said that President Barack Obama doesn’t think Comey is trying to sway the presidential race.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/white-house-defend-criticize-fbi-director-james-comey/story?id=43197456

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The FBI says there is no direct connection between Donald Trump and Russia

meet-the-pr-firm-that-helped-vladimir-putin-troll-the-entire-country

Chris Sanchez

The FBI says there is no definitive connection between Donald Trump and the Russian government, reaching that conclusion after a wide-ranging investigation that stemmed from concerns about the Republican presidential nominee’s foreign associations.

In a New York Times report published Monday night, the newspaper cited law-enforcement officials who said, if anything, the cyberattacks that US intelligence agencies suspect Russia of carrying out against Democratic Party organizations were “aimed at disrupting the presidential election rather than electing Trump.”

https://www.businessinsider.com/fbi-donald-trump-russia-connection-2016-10

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Forget the FBI cache; the Podesta emails show how America is run

money_theridgewoodblog

Thomas Frank

The emails currently roiling the US presidential campaign are part of some unknown digital collection amassed by the troublesome Anthony Weiner, but if your purpose is to understand the clique of people who dominate Washington today, the emails that really matter are the ones being slowly released by WikiLeaks from the hacked account of Hillary Clinton’s campaign chair John Podesta. They are last week’s scandal in a year running over with scandals, but in truth their significance goes far beyond mere scandal: they are a window into the soul of the Democratic party and into the dreams and thoughts of the class to whom the party answers.

The class to which I refer is not rising in angry protest; they are by and large pretty satisfied, pretty contented. Nobody takes road trips to exotic West Virginia to see what the members of this class looks like or how they live; on the contrary, they are the ones for whom such stories are written. This bunch doesn’t have to make do with a comb-over TV mountebank for a leader; for this class, the choices are always pretty good, and this year they happen to be excellent.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/oct/31/the-podesta-emails-show-who-runs-america-and-how-they-do-it

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FBI’s Clinton probe is the black swan that could throw election off course, Citi says

black swan

Gemma Acton | @GemmaActon

FBI probe is black swan that will throw election off: Analyst  8 Hours Ago | 04:03

The unexpected announcement Friday that the FBI would review further emails from Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in connection with its investigation into her use of a private email server is the “October surprise” that could throw the electoral race off course,according to a team of Citi analysts led by Chief Global Political Analyst Tina Fordham.

“In our view, these developments do constitute an ‘October surprise’that could have a meaningful impact on the race,” according to the new research note published on Monday.

Fordham’s team has consistently warned of the “extraordinarily high” risk of “black swan” events — such as scandals and “information warfare” — occurring during this fraught campaign, hence its reluctance to view a Clinton victory as confidently as many other pundits.

https://www.cnbc.com/2016/10/31/fbis-clinton-probe-is-the-black-swan-that-could-throw-election-off-course-citi-says.html

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FBI in Internal Feud Over Hillary Clinton Probe

fbi-jackets-generic

Laptop may contain thousands of messages sent to or from Mrs. Clinton’s private server

By
DEVLIN BARRETT
Updated Oct. 30, 2016 4:58 p.m. ET

As federal agents prepare to scour roughly 650,000 emails to see how many relate to a prior probe of Hillary Clinton’s email use, the surprise disclosure that investigators were pursuing the potential new evidence lays bare tensions inside the bureau and the Justice Department over how to investigate the Democratic presidential nominee.

Metadata found on the laptop used by former Rep. Anthony Weiner and his estranged wife Huma Abedin, a close Clinton aide, suggests there may be thousands of emails sent to or from the private server that Mrs. Clinton used while she was secretary of state, according to people familiar with the matter. It will take weeks, at a minimum, to determine whether those messages are work-related from the time Ms. Abedin served with Mrs. Clinton at the State Department; how many are duplicates of emails already reviewed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and whether they include either classified information or important new evidence in the Clinton email probe.

The FBI has had to await a court order to begin reviewing the emails, because they were uncovered in an unrelated probe of Mr. Weiner.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/laptop-may-include-thousands-of-emails-linked-to-hillary-clintons-private-server-1477854957

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There have been a lot of firsts in this Election, but a Presidential candidate under active F.B.I. investigation?

hillary-clinton-what-difference-does-it-make

October 30,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, With just over a week , left to Election Day, the F.B.I. delivered a bombshell and heavy blow to Hillary Clinton, announcing that they are re-opening their investigation into her reckless use of a private e-mail server. New information unearthed from the investigation into Anthony Weiner’s under-age sexting scandal prompted the F.B.I. to inform Congress that Clinton is the target of a renewed probe.

To many observers, it has become obvious the American political system is breaking down. It’s been crumbling for some time now, and the establishment knows it and they are terrified of Donald Trump presidency. Trump the so-called  “vulgarian at the gate”, is a symptom of a broken system , and the agent of change .

Perhaps the public has had it’s fill of Clinton Inc and it’s decades of lies and cynicism . Friday’s FBI announcement that it had reopened an investigation of her emails while secretary of state may be a sign that enough is enough and decades of cottuption are coming to an end .

Democrats like DNC Chairwoman Donna Brazile & Clinton campaign chair John Podesta, who have sung the praise of F.B.I. Director Comey in the past, are now lashing out as the Clinton campaign begins its tail-spin in the wake of this stunning development.

There have been a lot of firsts in this Election, but a Presidential candidate under active F.B.I. investigation? Gravely concerning for the future of our country and immediately qualifying Clinton as our next Commander-in-Chief.

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Hillary Clinton demands answers and Democrats call foul as FBI reopens email investigation over files found on sexting congressman’s computer

Clinton email scandal

Barney Henderson, new york

David Lawler, washington

The FBI has announced it is investigating new emails sent by Hillary Clinton on a private server during her time as Secretary of State, sending her campaign into panic mode just eleven days before the presidential election.

The emails were found during an investigation into illicit text messages between former congressman, Anthony Weiner, and a 15-year-old girl, according to the New York Times. Huma Abedin, Mr Weiner’s wife, is one of Mrs Clinton’s closest aides and was pictured with her yesterday as the news broke.

Moments after the FBI’s director James Comey announced the effective re-opening of the Clinton email investigation, Donald Trump seized the moment to go for the jugular at a rally in Manchester, New Hampshire, calling the announcement “bigger than Watergate”.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/10/28/fbi-probe-newly-discovered-hillary-clinton-emails-and-reopen-inv/

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Poll: National Anthem Protests Leading Cause For NFL Ratings Drop

Boycott NFL #boycottNFL

The money quote:

“You may be dismissive of the very idea that the backlash to the national anthem protests, sparked by the 49ers’ Colin Kaepernick, has played a role in the NFL’s TV ratings, which have dropped by about 12 percent year-over-year. To continue to dismiss that is to blatantly ignore legitimate data on the subject.”

Poll: National Anthem Protests Leading Cause For NFL Ratings Drop

October 27, 2016 3:42 PM

By Matt Dolloff, CBS Boston

BOSTON (CBS) — There are many reasons why the NFL’s ratings are down in 2016. You may be dismissive of the very idea that the backlash to the national anthem protests, sparked by the 49ers’ Colin Kaepernick, has played a role in the NFL’s TV ratings, which have dropped by about 12 percent year-over-year. To continue to dismiss that is to blatantly ignore legitimate data on the subject.

A fresh poll from Seton Hall surveyed 841 adults across the U.S. Each respondent was asked to identify seven separate factors as a reason for the NFL ratings drop, allowing them to answer “yes” or “no” for each of them. The leading factor, according to the poll, was the national anthem protests, which scored “yes” at a rate of 56 percent.

Other answers also scored “yes” at a high rate, including 50 percent of “yeses” for coverage of the presidential election, 47 percent for the league’s handling of domestic violence cases, 44 percent for the over-saturation of the market, 39 percent for increased interest in postseason baseball, and 33 percent for controversy over head injuries and player safety.

https://boston.cbslocal.com/2016/10/27/nfl-ratings-national-anthem-protests-poll/#.WBSRUeMPfGk.facebook

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Grifters-in-Chief

International Leaders And Luminaries Attend Clinton Global Initiative

The Clintons don’t draw lines between their ‘charity’ and personal enrichment.

By KIMBERLEY A. STRASSEL
Oct. 27, 2016 7:26 p.m. ET

In an election season that has been full of surprises, let’s hope the electorate understands that there is at least one thing of which it can be certain: A Hillary Clinton presidency will be built, from the ground up, on self-dealing, crony favors, and an utter disregard for the law.

This isn’t a guess. It is spelled out, in black and white, in the latest bombshell revelation from WikiLeaks. It comes in the form of a memo written in 2011 by longtime Clinton errand boy Doug Band, who for years worked simultaneously at the Clinton Foundation and at the head of his lucrative consulting business, Teneo.

It is astonishingly detailed proof that the Clintons do not draw any lines between their “charitable” work, their political activity, their government jobs or (and most important) their personal enrichment. Every other American is expected to keep these pursuits separate, as required by tax law, anticorruption law and campaign-finance law. For the Clintons, it is all one and the same—the rules be damned.

The memo came near the end of a 2011 review by law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett into Clinton Foundation practices. Chelsea Clinton had grown concerned about the audacious mixing of public and private, and the review was designed to ensure that the foundation didn’t lose its charitable tax status. Mr. Band, Teneo boss and epicenter of what he calls “ Bill Clinton, Inc.,” clearly felt under assault and was eager to brag up the ways in which his business had concurrently benefited the foundation, Clinton political causes and the Clinton bank account. The memoed result is a remarkably candid look at the sleazy inner workings of the Clinton grifters-in-chief.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/grifters-in-chief-1477610771

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Hacked memo offers an angry glimpse inside ‘Bill Clinton Inc.’

Bill Clinton

A remarkable 12-page document revealed by WikiLeaks bristles with a longtime Clinton aide’s resentment of his boss.

By JOSH GERSTEIN

As a longtime Bill Clinton adviser came under fire several years ago for alleged conflicts of interest involving a private consulting firm and the Clinton Foundation, he mounted an audacious defense: Bill Clinton’s doing it, too.

The unusual and brash rejoinder from veteran Clinton aide and Teneo Consulting co-founder Doug Band is scattered across the thousands of hacked emails published by WikiLeaks, but a memo released Wednesday provides the most detailed look to date at the intertwined worlds of nonprofit, for-profit, official and political activities involving Clinton and many of his top aides.

The memo at one point refers bluntly to the money-making part of Clinton’s life as “Bill Clinton Inc.” and notes that in at least one case a company — global education firm Laureate International Universities — began paying Clinton personally after first being a donor to the Clinton Foundation.

The 12-page document, prepared in November 2011 by Band with input from Clinton adviser John Podesta, came as Chelsea Clinton was pressing for changes to the foundation’s governance and complaining that Band, Teneo co-founder Declan Kelly and others were profiting from their ties to her father and the foundation.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/hacked-memo-offers-an-angry-glimpse-inside-bill-clinton-inc-230364#ixzz4OOLCHluH

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Trump Statement on FBI Reopening Clinton Email Investigation

wicked-witch

DONALD J. TRUMP STATEMENT:

“I need to open with a very critical breaking news announcement. The FBI has just sent a letter to Congress informing them that they have discovered new emails pertaining to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s investigation, and they are reopening the case into her criminal and illegal conduct that threatens the security of the United States of America.

“Hillary Clinton’s corruption is on a scale we have never seen before. We must not let her take her criminal scheme into the Oval Office.

“I have great respect for the fact that the FBI and the DOJ are now willing to have the courage to right the horrible mistake that they made. This was a grave miscarriage of justice that the American people fully understand. It is everybody’s hope that it is about to be corrected.” – Donald J. Trump

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The Clintons and the sordid UBS affair

bill-and-hillary-clinton-foundation-global-initiative-AFP-640x480

By Ernest A. Canning

The story, as originally recounted by James V. Grimaldi and Rebecca Ballhaus of The Wall Street Journal, was, of itself, deeply troubling.  In March 2009, after meeting with Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey, then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton intervened with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on behalf of Switzerland’s most powerful banking institution, UBS.  The IRS, which at that time was seeking the identity of wealthy Americans who had stashed some $20 billion in 52,000 tax evading UBS accounts, then agreed that the Swiss bank need only turn over information on 4,450 accounts.  Afterwards, UBS increased its previous $60,000 in donations to the Clinton Foundation ten-fold.  By the end of 2014, UBS donations to the Clinton Foundation totaled $600,000.  UBS also “paid former President Bill Clinton $1.5 million to participate in a series of question-and-answer sessions with UBS Wealth Management Chief Executive Bob McCann, making UBS his biggest single corporate source of speech income disclosed since he left the White House.”

Those facts, of themselves, raise disturbing questions.  Did a bank that still ranks as “the world’s biggest wealth manager” and has at its disposal a bevy of economists and law firms have a legitimate reason for paying Bill Clinton $1.5 million in speaking fees? Or was the $1.5 million and the tenfold increase in Clinton Foundation donations a reward for the former secretary of State’s intervention?  If the latter, that reward would have, under federal law (18 U.S.C. § 201(c)(1)(A)), amounted to an illicit bribe.

https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/presidential-campaign/272396-the-clintons-and-the-sordid-ubs-affair