The Ridgewood Blog Brings a Free Market Laissez-faire Point of View to Local, New Jersey State and National Issues.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, recent reports confirming that the COVID-19 virus probably came from a Chinese lab don’t surprise most voters, who suspect U.S. officials may have been involved in a cover-up.
Continue reading COVID-19 Cover-Up? 67% Not Surprised by Lab Leak Confirmation
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Albany NY, New York’s state legislators will after all issue a public report on their findings from an impeachment probe into Andrew Cuomo’s sexual misconduct and his horrific handling of COVID and the subsequent cover-up.
Continue reading NY Legislators To Release Investigative Report On Cuomo’s Nursing Home Scandal
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Jersey City NJ,Katie Brennan spent more than a year trying to get authorities to take action against the man she accuses of sexually assaulting her. Finally, she emailed New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy.
February 13,2018
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Allendale NJ, according to Judicial Watch , “the more we learn about the FBI under Allendale native James Comey’s supervision the more we have reason to question the activities of the fired FBI Director. Because he has left a trail of suspicious activities in is wake, Comey now stands out as key figure in the Deep State’s illicit attempts to target President Trump.”
And it looks like the Deep State is protecting Comey still. We were forced to file a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit for FBI records about former Director Comey’s book, which he signed to write in August 2017 and is set for publication in April 2018 (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Justice, (No. 1:18-cv-00220)).
Our suit also seeks records of communications between Comey and the FBI prior to and regarding Comey’s controversial June 2017 testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Judicial Watch filed on January 31 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia after the Justice Department failed to respond to our August 14, 2017, FOIA request for:
All records of communications between the FBI and Comey prior to and regarding Comey’s testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on June 8, 2017.
All records of communications between the FBI and Comey relating to an upcoming book to be authored by Comey and published.
All records, including but not limited to forms completed by Comey, relating to the requirement for prepublication review by the FBI of any book to be authored by Comey with the intent to be published or otherwise publicly available.
Comey reportedly received an advance in excess of $2 million for his book, Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership, reportedly set for publication on April 17th. Former FBI agents and officials intending to write books concerning their tenure are customarily required to submit the entire transcript for pre-publication review.
A month after President Trump fired Comey on May 9, 2017, Comey provided highly controversial testimony before the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence about the circumstances that led to his dismissal, the ongoing investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and his handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s illicit email server. During that testimony, Comey admitted he leaked information about his conversations with President Donald Trump in order to get a special prosecutor appointed. (In November, we filed a separate FOIA lawsuit against the Justice Department for its records about Comey’s testimony.)
Comey seems to have protected status for any misconduct, and we want to know if he had a special deal for his book from his friends in the FBI. The Deep State is in cover-up mode. The FBI, DOJ, and the Special Counsel are stonewalling our requests for Comey documents.
We have several other lawsuits pending for Comey-related records:
Two lawsuits (hereand here) seek specifically the “Comey memos” ((Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Justice(No. 1:17-cv-01189)) and (Daily Caller News Foundation v. U.S. Department Justice (No. 1:17-cv-01830));
Onelawsuit seeks metadata of the “Comey memos” and related records-management information ((Judicial Watch, Inc., v. U.S. Department of Justice(No. 17-cv-01520));
And anotherlawsuit seeks non-disclosure agreements pertaining to the handling, storage, protection, dissemination, and/or return of classified information signed by Comey ((Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:17-cv-01624)).
On January 11, U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg the FBI to turn over the “Comey memos” for in camera review by the court. In doing so, the court rejected arguments by the Sessions Justice Department to dismiss the lawsuits seeking the Comey information.
Unfortunately, on February 2, Boasberg ruled that the “Comey memos” would not be made public. Judicial Watch and the Daily Caller News Foundation almost immediately appealed the ruling. We don’t intend to let up in our pursuit of the truth about the egregious conduct of the FBI’s former director.
November 17,2017
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Ridgewood NJ, looks like the Ridgewood blog was not the only one with unanswered questions about the fighting incident that took place at Stevens and Brookside fields. We recently observed that the ,
“Ridgewood High School “ANTI BULLYING POLICY” was adapted in 2016 , it has very clear rolls for students , parents and staff, While the kids involved in the incident have gotten all the attention , the little public information that is available about the incident and what led up to the incident would lead anyone to suspect the Ridgewood High School anti bullying policy , despite years of finger wagging was not followed and it appears that not only were students documented to be in violation of the policy but clearly so were some staff and parents .”
https://theridgewoodblog.net/so-the-question-remains-for-the-ridgewood-school-system-who-knew-when-did-they-know-and-why-did-they-not-act/
After an investigation of the incident the Ridgewood Police charged a 14-year-old with aggravated assault and simple assault. The 16-year-old was charged with simple assault.
Which all let us to ask , “who knew ,when did they know and why did they not act?”
Looks like we were not alone Fort Lee attorney Rosemarie Arnold delivered two notices of intent to Ridgewood High School on Thursday stating that the parents of a 16-year-old boy intend to sue the Board of Education, high school principal Thomas Gorman and superintendent Daniel Fishbein because they allegedly violated their own policies regarding bullying and social media, sounds just like our article .
According to their website the Law Offices Rosemarie Arnold is based in Fort Lee Law and represents clients In New Jersey And New York. On their website they claim , ” we are a strong voice for victims of negligence.”
Aronold seems to go after big cases an is not afraid of a little attention. On her home page it states, “Our law firm receives significant attention in professional publications and major media outlets due to our success in high-profile cases.”
In the notice Arnold claims that the Ridgewood High School “did not implement proper social media and bullying policies and procedures’ .The notice also accuses Ridgewood High School of “not enforcing the meager policies they had in existence — therefore, students knew there were no penalties for violation of the policies, creating a culture of unrelenting bullying and harassment.”
Arnold went even further by accusing the school and district officials of a cover up, “to protect the school’s reputation and the reputation of the child of a teacher in the district.”
Arnold has also filed suit against SNAP Inc., the Delaware-based parent of Snapchat, as well as 47 unidentified students who “instigated, incited, aided or abetted and filmed the beating of the victim.”
#WhatIsJoshHiding #ReleaseTheSettlement
October 20,2016
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Ridgewood NJ, Josh Gottheimer is covering up allegations about a court case where he was charged with aggressively intimidating and assaulting a woman. His campaign spin machine is intentionally misleading the press using carefully parsed phrases to obscure the truth.
Josh Gottheimer has dismissed his assault of this woman as “frivolous.” If that’s the case, why won’t he just release the settlement? Instead, his campaign is simply using political spin to obfuscate reality.
Josh Gottheimer claims to stand for women, but as is so often the case with Clinton cronies, it’s clear that his actions don’t match his words.
By Ryan Hutchins
10/04/16 12:03 PM EDT
NEWARK, N.J. — Andrew Cuomo and Chris Christie personally discussed how to handle the fallout from the George Washington Bridge lane closures, even agreeing to release a report covering up the incident, according to the admitted mastermind of the political revenge scheme.
Cuomo’s administration — referred to in testimony as “Albany” — told the top official at the bistate Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to “lay off” Christie following the incident, former Port official David Wildstein testified here in U.S. District Court.
BBC Scrubs ‘Ali’ From Munich Killer’s Name On TV, In Articles, AND On Social Media
The BBC has unilaterally chosen not to report the Munich attacker’s full name, in what appears to be an attempt to scrub any Muslim or Islamic heritage link to its coverage of the incident.
Most sources at this point suggest that Ali David Sonboly – the Munich attacker who targeted children and killed nine yesterday – is not connected to radical Islam, but the BBC has gone to extraordinary lengths to try to keep any reference to his heritage out of its coverage, opting to name him only as “David Sonboly”.
Other news organisations including the Wall Street Journal, Independent, Daily Mail, and Sky News named the attacker as “Ali David Sonboly” or “David Ali Sonboly”. CNN even referred to him simply as “Ali Sonboly
https://www.breitbart.com/london/2016/07/23/bbc-scrubs-muslim-name-ali-munich-killer-article/
“On Thursday, the administration tried to calm insurers, sending them a written memo full of promises. Obama’s Department of Health and Human Services vowed to go to Congress for full funding to reimburse insurers for their losses.”
Look out taxpayers– you will be asked to pony up for plans with little accountability, nice stock options and generous executive compensation. The louder they whine, the more government largesse will be rained upon them. Alieta Eck, MD For Real Health Care Reform
A new taxpayer bailout to cover up ObamaCare’s failure?
By Betsy McCaughey
November 20, 2015 | 8:58pm
How dare the Obama administration bail out insurance companies with our money in order to hide ObamaCare’s failures. Thursday, just hours after giant insurer UnitedHealthcare said it’s losing money selling ObamaCare plans and will likely exit the health exchanges next year, the Obama administration quietly promised to bail out insurers for their losses — using your money.
Nearly all insurers are bleeding red ink trying to sell the unworkable plans. Without a bailout, more insurers will abandon ObamaCare, pushing it closer to its demise. A bailout would benefit insurers and the Democratic Party, which is desperate to cover up the health law’s failure. Ironically Democrats (including Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders) bad-mouth bank bailouts but are all for insurance-company bailouts. Truth is, it’s a ripoff for taxpayers, who shouldn’t have to pay for this sleazy coverup.
https://nypost.com/2015/11/20/a-new-taxpayer-bailout-to-cover-up-obamacares-failure/
State Department releases thousands of Clinton emails, 125 contain classified information
Published September 01, 2015
FoxNews.com
The State Department released thousands of pages of Hillary Clinton’s emails Monday night that a department spokesman said contained 125 messages with material now considered classified.
State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the emails in question were “subsequently upgraded” to classified. He stressed that none of the emails was considered classified at the time.
However, the sheer number of emails that have been redacted stands as the latest example of how much sensitive material was contained in Clinton’s email transactions. The FBI is conducting an investigation into whether classified information that passed through Clinton’s so-called “homebrew” server was mishandled. Clinton, the Democratic presidential front-runner, has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
The emails with redacted sections discussed global issues in countries from Haiti to China to Sudan.
One April 2010 email from Clinton’s top aide Huma Abedin containing a report from then-ambassador to China Jon Huntsman was redacted entirely, while a message from that September about “calls” Clinton said she was willing to make regarding trilateral talks over Sudan was likewise blacked out.
Other classified emails contain discussions about a potential presidential election in Haiti, meetings between U.S. and Cuban officials regarding aid to Haiti in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake in that country, discussions of a conversation between the Russian and American ambassadors to the United Nations, and elections for the presidency of the International Development Bank,
In all, the State Department said that 7,121 pages of emails from the former secretary of state’s personal email server had been made public — the largest such release to date.
“We’re producing more documents this month than we have produced in the previous three releases,” Toner had said earlier Monday.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/09/01/state-department-about-150-emails-in-new-clinton-batch-have-classified-info/
Government Insider Warned of HealthCare.gov Security Risks: ‘I Am Tired of the Cover-Ups’
Sharyl Attkisson / @SharylAttkisson / September 18, 2014
Government insiders who flagged security issues prior to the launch of HealthCare.gov were right to be concerned. That’s according to a new audit by the Government Accountability Office, which concluded that security weaknesses are putting “the sensitive personal information” contained by HealthCare.gov and its related systems at risk.
HealthCare.gov security problems put “sensitive personal information” at risk, @usgao concluded.
As the Obama administration prepared to launch the website last fall, one of those insiders voiced concern about the vulnerabilities and complained about “cover-ups” masking the severity of the problems.
The findings run counter to claims by Obama administration officials who have long insisted there’s no reason for any concern regarding the website’s security.
The news comes in advance of a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing at 11 a.m. today examining the security vulnerabilities. GAO Director of Information Security Issues Greg Wilhusen will testify. His report concludes, “Until these weaknesses are addressed, the systems and the information they contain remain at increased risk of unauthorized use, disclosure, modification, or loss.”
Missing Information
As the GAO performed its security investigation, it did not receive full information from the government, according to Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif. He says that government officials refused to provide GAO with reports on 13 HealthCare.gov security incidents.
“What vulnerabilities to sensitive personal information is CMS still so intent on hiding from an independent government auditor?” said Issa in a statement issued Wednesday.
Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif. (Photo: Getty Images/Newscom)
The GAO found that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which runs HealthCare.gov, failed to “analyze privacy risks associated with HealthCare.gov systems or identify mitigating control.” The GAO also faulted officials for not performing comprehensive security testing and not ensuring that security plans contained all required information, “which makes it harder for officials to assess the risks involved in operating those systems.”
According to the GAO, the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees CMS, agreed or partially agreed with GAO’s six recommendations “to fully implement its information security program” and “concurred with all 22 of the recommendations to resolve technical weaknesses in security controls, describing actions it had under way or planned related to each of them.”
Warnings Ignored
Serious security problems with HealthCare.gov were exposed in stories I reported for CBS News in November and December of 2013. They revealed that Teresa Fryer, the chief information security officer for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, explicitly recommended the website should not be launched Oct. 1, 2013, due to security concerns, but was overruled by her superiors.
“I am tired of the cover-ups,” a government security chief said of HealthCare.gov problems.
Fryer said she had warned, both verbally and in a briefing, that the website carried “high [security] risks” and possible exposure to “attacks.” Fryer also said that sherefused to put her name on a letterrecommending the website be given a temporary authority to operate while the issues were sorted out.
Additionally, Henry Chao, the CMS project manager in charge of building the website, was apparently kept in the dark about serious security failures. Those included “high-risk” issues, flagged by the government’s security testing firm, which indicated “the threat and risk potential [to the system] is limitless.”
‘Tired of the Cover Ups’
Meantime, internal documents newly released by Republicans on the Oversight Committee detail agency infighting and secrecy efforts surrounding the troubled launch of HealthCare.gov.
Fryer indicated that she was frustrated by fellow CMS officials who were not providing a true picture of security testing prior to the launch.
“I am tired of the cover-ups,” she emailed a colleague, stating that she intended to give “a truthful update of exactly what was going on” to an official at Health and Human Services who had asked for a status report.
CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner (Photo: Alyson Fligg/Sipa USA/Newscom)
When CMS’ independent security testing prior to launch produced negative results, documents indicate one CMS official sought to have the report changed.
“We need to hit the pause button on this report,” wrote CMS’ Thomas Schankweiler, “and have an internal meeting about it. … It is very possible that this report will be reviewed at some point by [the Office of the Inspector General], and could see the light in other ways.”
In an Oct. 5, 2013, email, CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner forwarded a subordinate a complaint from a White House adviser and then instructed, “Please delete this email.” Issa says that instruction violates federal record-keeping rules.
Tavenner is scheduled to testify at today’s Oversight Committee hearing.
https://dailysignal.com/2014/09/18/government-insider-warned-healthcare-gov-security-risks-tired-cover-ups/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social
Kerry to testify on Benghazi
By Justin Sink
State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said Kerry had sent a letter to Issa informing him that he would appear before the panel, but that existing diplomatic responsibilities would prevent him from testifying on May 29, the date requested by the chairman.
Kerry said he would be willing to testify on either June 12 or June 20.
The letter also indicated that the State Department believes that, if Kerry appeared before the Oversight panel, he would not need to testify before a recently created select House committee also investigating the Benghazi attacks.
“We have been clear that we’re willing to work with the committee, despite the fact that the Benghazi oversight has been consolidated under the select committee,” Harf said Friday.
“We believe the secretary’s appearance before HOGR [House Oversight and Government Reform] will eliminate any need for the secretary to appear a second time before the select committee,” she added.
Issa has demanded that Kerry appear before the Oversight panel to discuss recently released emails highlighting the role the White House had a in preparing then-U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice to appear in TV interviews in the days after the attack.
