#nsc replies

[naruto-shipping-confessions]

#1

#2

[kpop---scenarios]

Misery Loves Company (3)

Pairing: Lee Know x Reader

Warning: Smut [18+ ONLY. MINORS DO NOT INTERACT]

Word Count: 1.8k

Everything Taglist: @wife2straykidss @piscesrising01 @baby-stay92 @kisses-too-the-moon

@dwaekkiiracha @silly250 @rylea08 @imperfectlyperfectprincess1

@satosugu4l @gabriellamarie @tsunderelino @iovecb97 @1810cl

@lordmaahes-nsc @sailorkoss @minh0scat @pixie0627 @50-husbands

@jinnies-muse @yaorzu-blog @anskiiz @joyofbebbanburg @number1jeonginstan

@skzooluvr

@jisunglyricist @ambersnowxxx @ayyonoona @31maze13

@stay-tiny-things @thegingerthatwaited @hoesheez

ONE | TWO |

Just as Minho leans in, his plump lips almost touching yours, your body begins to shake. Your eyes shoot open, sitting up with a gasp. You look around and see yourself still in the car, Minho glancing between you and looking at the road with a confused face.

“Are you okay?” He laughs. “It sounded like you were having either a scary dream, or a very sexual one.” He says.

“I- um, yeah. It was uh, scary.” You mumble, trying to compose yourself. You weren't quite sure how you felt about the dream you'd just had.

You and Minho? Maybe it was just because the two of you had been traveling for two days alone, and sharing a bed. Yeah, that was it. You didn't want him, it was just your brain going somewhere that you wouldn't go with him.

But if that was the case, why couldn't you stop thinking about him in a completely different way now?

“Okay.” He laughs. “Well we're about 10 minutes from the hotel. Hopefully they have more than one room this time.” He says.

“Yeah.” You say, forcing yourself to chuckle. “Hopefully.” Secretly you hoped they didn't, but you'd never tell him that.

A few minutes later, Minho pulls into the parking lot of the hotel. You both get out, stretching before grabbing your bags and heading inside. You both go up to the desk, each of you speaking to your own front desk agent.

“One room, one bed please.” You smile, sliding your credit card across the desk. You hear Minho mumble the same thing, and notice both the desk agents looking at each other.

“You guys came in together…right?” The woman asks, looking between you both.

“Yes, but we're not…together.” You mumble.

“Ah, well unfortunately, we only have one room left. With a king size bed.” She tells you both.

Fuck.

“That's fine.” Minho smiles. “I'll book that.” He finishes, sliding his own credit card over to his clerk.

Once he's finished checking in, you drag your bag behind you as you follow behind him to the elevator. The two of you step on, the door closing quickly. “We're not having very good luck with hotel rooms.” He laughs.

“We definitely are not.” You laugh, waiting for him to unlock the door. The two of you go inside, setting down your luggage, when he looks at you.

“Should we go grab some dinner?” he smiles, motioning towards the front door of the room. You nod your head, walking towards the door before you begin to remember your dream. You try to shake it out of your head, following Minho out of the room and back towards the elevator. You take a deep breath, trying to contain your thoughts, trying to make them a lot less dirty than they currently were.

You and Minho are sitting at a nice but small table, with menus placed in front of you.

“Can I get you something to drink?” Your waiter asks, smiling down at you both.

“Double vodka cran please.” You smile.

“Beer for me.” Minho replies. Your body freezes. This is exactly what happened in your dream in the car. You try to shake off the lust you were currently feeling but you couldn't help it. You sat there watching Minho scan the menu, licking his lips.

Fuck.

It seemed as if everything you had dreamt about it the car was beginning to come true. Does this mean he was going to kiss you when you got back to the room? Did you want that? Would you accept it? Well, look at him, of course you would. Your palms begin to sweat, making your glass slip in your hands. You quickly place it on the table, leaning forward to sip from the straw instead.

When you were finished with that drink, you ordered another double, and you knew by the end of the evening you were going to be drunk.

And you were. Even after eating dinner, you had 2 more double drinks and the room was spinning. Luckily for you, Minhi paid for dinner, and you followed him to the elevator, doing your best to keep up with him as you tried not to trip over your own feet or bump into anything. Thankfully you successfully made it to your shared room. And you went straight for your tank top and shorts, getting your toiletries as well before turning to look at Minho.

“Do you have to go to the bathroom?” You ask. “I was gonna shower.” Now was the time. Was your dream gonna come true?

“No, I'm all good, go ahead.” He smiles, sliding his belt out of his jeans.

You were a little disappointed that it didn't happen. You turned around and walked towards the bathroom with your shoulders slightly slumped. You took your time in the shower, hoping that maybe he would be asleep by the time you got out. A while later you got out of the shower, dried yourself off and slipped on your shorts and tank top. You crept out into the bedroom, Minho slightly snoring with the TV still on.

Thank fuck.

You set your clothes in your bag, trying your hardest to be quiet as you sneak into the bed, doing your best not to disturb Minho. You gently grab the remote from beside him, turning off the TV. You laid there in the dark, everything still spinning because despite your shower, you were still drunk. You closed your eyes and tried to fall asleep but you just kept thinking about Minho, his hands all over your body, the way his tongue would feel on you, the way he tasted, the way his cock felt inside you. Your eyes shoot open, your clit throbbing. You look over at him again, softly snoring. You slowly slip your hand into your shorts, closing your eyes as your fingertips touch your clit. You try to control your breathing as you gently rub, imagining it was Minho touching you, imagining him doing all sorts of things to you, and fuck was it ever hot.

Until he rolled over. Your stop, frozen in your position. He clears his throat, adjusting his position in bed and you can't tell if he's still asleep. You can feel your heart racing as you wait, hoping to hear those soft snores once again. But they don't come.

“Y/N.” He says, his voice low and hoarse. A knot forms in your stomach, as you wait for him to continue speaking. “Are you touching yourself right now?” He asks.

You didn't know how to answer. If you said yes would he be upset? If you said no would he even believe you?

“Yes.” You whisper.

“Were you thinking about me?” He asks. “Don't lie to me, either.”

“Yes.” You whisper.

“Are you wet right now?”

“So wet.” You say.

Minho let out a low groan. “Fuck.” he hisses. “If you're gonna make a mess, at least do it on my face.”

Your own breath hitches. “You want to help me out?” You ask.

“Please ride my fucking face.” He groans. You must have been drunker than you thought, because you weren't sure sober you would ever do this. You got up, shimmying your shorts down and discarding them before you crawl back on the bed, straddling Minho's chest.

“Are you sure about this?” You ask.

“If you don't sit on my fucking face…” He begins to say but you cut him off, by sitting on his face. You feel his tongue swirl around your clit, lapping up your juices from playing with yourself. You lean forward, gripping the headboard as Minho sticks out his tongue and you begin to ride his face. You can feel your juices spilling out of you as you moan loudly, each movement bringing you closer and closer to your orgasm.

“Oh my fucking god.” You groan, moving faster on his tongue. “Fuck, Minho.” You cry, suddenly cumming all over his face.

You get off, laying down next to him as you try to catch your breath. Minho climbs out of the bed, moving around to your side of the bed. He drops his boxers to the floor, his cock standing tall. You look over at him, smiling as he grabs onto your ankles, pulling you to the edge of the bed but keeping your legs in the air. You watch as he spits into his hand, stroking his cock before he shoves himself inside of you, and it was better than you fucking imagined. Minho moves slowly, pulling out, before slowly pushing himself back in as far as he can and holds himself there for just a moment. Until he pulls out and does the same thing over and over again, driving you fucking crazy.

“Minho…” you gasp. “Please.”

“Please what?” Minho asks.

“Fuck me harder.” You groan.

Minho doesn't say anything, Instead picks up his pace, ramming his cock deep inside your wet cunt, making you scream. “It feels so good.” You cry out.

“Such a tight fucking pussy.” Minho moans, wrapping his hand around your leg, holding you closer as he fucks you. He moves his other hand between your legs, rubbing your already sensitive clit, desperately wanting to make you cum all over his cock.

You arch your back as Minho slams into you, his fingers moving just right against your clit. You tighten your pussy around his cock as he pumps into you. Your orgasm building so quickly, you don't even have time to warn him. It takes over your body, making you scream again as your eyes roll back. Minho's grunting, his fingers digging into your thighs as he desperately yearns to reach his own orgasm. He thrusts a few more times, the sound of you moaning from his cock threw him over the edge. He groans loudly as he pulls his cock out, stroking it fast, his head thrown back as he cums, right on your lower stomach, his chest heaving.

He takes a few deep breaths, laughing at the sight of you. “I'll get you a towel.” He chuckles.

“That's so nice of you, thank you.” You yell back, sarcastically. Minho comes back into the room, handing you a towel to clean yourself up with. When you're done, you put it in a dirty laundry bag near the door and crawl back into bed.

“That was fun.” He laughs.

“That was so much fun.” You breathe, laying under the covers. “But um…” you pause. “What does this mean now?” You ask. You kinda hoped he'd ask you on a date or something.

“Maybe…” he starts. The anticipation was killing you. What was he going to say?

“Let's just play this by ear.” He says, clearing his throat. “And maybe don't tell anyone about it.”

[todaysdocument]

Memorandum from Henry Kissinger Regarding Communications with Hanoi, North Vietnam Prior to January 20, 1969

Collection GRF-0332: Henry Kissinger and Brent Scowcroft West Wing Office Files (Ford Administration)Series: Henry Kissinger's and Brent Scowcroft's General Subject FilesFile Unit: Vietnamese War - Secret Peace Talks (Mr. S. File), (1)

Digitized from Box 38 of the NSA. Kissinger-Scowcroft West Wing Office Files at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library [written]File 5a [underlined][strikethrough]SECRET[/strikethrough] /NODIS January 31, 1969 [/underlined]EYES ONLY MEMORANDUM FOR: THE SECRETARY OF STATE FROM: Henry A. Kissinger SUBJECT: Communication with Hanoi Prior to January 20 Prior to the inauguration, President Nixon was in communication with the North Vietnamese through a contact who is personally known to the top leaders in Hanoi. The messages were sent by me to the contact who delivered them to Mai Van Bo (DRV representative to the Government of France) and vice versa. The President initiated the exchange with his message of December 20 (Tab A), which told the North Vietnamese that his Administration was prepared to undertake serious talks. On December 31, Hanoi sent its reply (Tab B), which emphasizes that its point of primary concern is U.S. willingness to withdraw troops. The ball was kept in play by the President's response of January 2 (Tab C), which states [underlined]inter alia[/underlined] that his Administration is ready to withdraw U.S. forces from South Vietnam as part of an honorable settlement which includes mutual troop withdrawal. The North Vietnamese replied on January 13 to the President's message (Tab D). The President has not replied to this latest message. The President asked that this be very closely held. [underlined][strikethrough]SECRET[/strikethrough]/NODIS[/underlined] [stamp]GERALD R. FORD LIBRARY DECLASSIFIED E.O. 12958, Sec. 3.5 NSC Memo 11/24/98, State Dept. Guidelines [initialed] , NARA, Date 12/15/99 Box 38 of the NSA. Kissinger-Scowcroft West Wing Office Files at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library [written]5b [underlined]SECRET[crossed out]/ NODIS December 20, 1968 [underlined]Message to the North Vietnamese "1. The Nixon Administration is prepared to undertake serious talks. "2. These talks are to be based on the self respect and sense of honor of all parties. "3. The Nixon Administration is prepared for an honorable settlement but for nothing less. "4. If Hanoi wants, the Nixon Administration would be willing to discuss ultimate objectives first. "5. If Hanoi wishes to communicate some of their general ideas prior to January 20, they will be examined with a constructive attitude and in the strictest confidence." [underlined]SECRET[crossed out] /NODIS [stamp]GERALD R. FORD LIBRARY [stamp]DECLASSIFIED E.O. 12958, Sec. 3.5 NSC Memo, 11/24/98, State Dept. Guidelines By [initialed] , NARA, Date 12/15/99 [full document at link]

[thedunesea]

you understand obi-wan and anakin on an emotional level i have NEVER seen in an author— for any fanfic characters. i left a comment on your ao3, but now i’m begging here—neutron star collision plot spoilers? i don’t want to murder your character arcs in my head, i don’t trust myself. your story is too beautiful for my hands.

Thank you so much for your words, really, both here and on ao3. They mean so much to me. It's humbling to know that the way I've written these characters I love so dearly resonates so much with someone else <3 [I do read and cherish all the comments I receive, but I feel too guily for my lack of updates to reply to the comments I receive on NSC :(]

I am going to finish Neutron Star Collision eventually, I know I am, but since I don't know how long it will take I will gladly share detailed spoilers if you wish! Just shoot me a DM, my inbox is open, I don't really feel comfortable leaving here in the open the detailed plot of a story I'm still painstakingly working on :)

[naruto-general-opinions]

#1

#2

[cyberbenb]

Trump fires Defense, State department watchdogs in latest government purge

U.S. President Donald Trump dismissed 15 inspectors general, including those in the Defense and State departments, in a late-night purge on Jan. 24, the Washington Post (WP) reported on Jan. 25.

The move is the latest action the new administration has taken in their first week in office to dismiss government officials and replace them with Trump loyalists.

The mass firing targeted Cabinet-level U.S. agencies, with the exception of the Homeland Security and Justice departments, the WP reported. The surprise termination violates a federal law passed in 2022 that requires Congress to receive 30 days' notice of any plan to fire a Senate-approved inspector general.

“It’s a widespread massacre,” one fired inspector general told the WP.

“Whoever Trump puts in now will be viewed as loyalists, and that undermines the entire system."

Inspector generals provide oversight of federal agencies, investigating cases of possible fraud, waste, and abuse of power. Defense Department Inspectors General have played a role in tracking U.S. military aid to Ukraine throughout Russia’s full-scale invasion.

A delegation of watchdogs from the U.S. Defense and State departments visited Kyiv in 2023 and 2024 to hold meetings with Ukrainian officials. The inspections did not find any evidence of military aid theft in Ukraine.

Certain U.S.-supplied defense equipment is subject to enhanced end-use monitoring (EEUM), meaning the items are supposed to be closely tracked. The additional monitoring requirements apply to weapons such as Javelin and Stinger missiles, Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM), unmanned aircraft systems, and night vision devices.

The firing of independent monitors, including those responsible for tracking military assistance to Ukraine, comes as Trump-appointed Secretary of State Marco Rubio issues a 90-day freeze of most foreign aid, including support for Ukraine.

Senior State Department diplomats are reportedly seeking an exemption for Ukraine-related programs, while Ukrainian officials have claimed that Rubio’s directive does not apply to military aid.

The future of U.S. military support for Ukraine remains uncertain under President Trump, who has promised to negotiate a quick peace deal and pledged to get the U.S. “out” of the war.

Trump has also used or threatened sweeping dismissals of government employees to advance his so-called “America First” agenda. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz began  a full vetting of the National Security Council (NSC) staff, sending home dozens of officials, including those working with Ukraine.

Reuters reported in November 2024 that the Trump team was also preparing lists of mass dismissals at the Pentagon.

The purge of the inspectors general occurred on the same day that the U.S. Senate confirmed Trump’s controversial nominee Pete Hegseth as Defense Secretary. According to the WP, Senator Elizabeth Warren asked Hegseth during his hearing if he would preserve the department’s independent inspectors general.

“If confirmed, I commit to protecting the DoD IG’s independence,” he replied, according to a document seen by the WP.

Hegseth has not commented on the firings.

“It’s a purge of independent watchdogs in the middle of the night,” Warren said in a post on X.

“Inspectors general are charged with rooting out government waste, fraud, abuse, and preventing misconduct. President Trump is dismantling checks on his power and paving the way for widespread corruption.”

What leverage does Trump have over Russia in Ukraine peace negotiations? Quite a lot, experts say

Only days after U.S. President Donald Trump returned to the White House, he dialed up the heat on Russia with a threat of sanctions, tariffs, and negotiating “the hard way” if Russian President Vladimir Putin fails to come to the table for a peace deal with Ukraine. Trump has

The Kyiv IndependentAndrea Januta

[meetnategreen]

PBS White House correspondent Yamiche Alcindor asked why the president doesn't "take responsibility" for the administration's slow response to the Covid-19 outbreak despite his disbanding of a White House office on pandemic response.

He replied: "I just think that's a nasty question ... When you say me, I didn't do it."

Yamiche Alcindor PBS White House correspondent 

[can-i-make-image-descriptions]

[Image IDs: Image #1: Message from Pete Hegseth at 8:49am reading: VP: I fully share your loathing of European free-loading. It's Pathetic.

But Mike is correct, we are the only ones on the planet (on our side of the ledger) who can do this. Nobody else even close. Question is timing I feel like now is as good a time as any, given POTUS directive to reopen shipping lanes. I think we should go; but POTUS still retains 24 hours of decision space.

Message from S M at 9:35am reading: As I heard it, the president was clear: green light, but we soon make clear to Egypt and Europe what we expect in return. We also need to figure out how to enforce such a requirement. EG, if Europe doesn't remunerate, then what? If the US successfully restores freedom of navigation at great cost there needs to be some further economic gain extracted in return.

Message from Pete Hegseth at 9:46am reading: Agree

Images 2: Text reading: At 11:44 a.m., the account labeled "Pete Hegseth" posted in Signal a "Team Update." I will not quote from this update, of from certain other subsequent texts. The information contained in them, if they had been read by an adversary of the United States, could conceivably have been used to harm American military and intelligence personnel, particularly in the broader Middle East, Central Command's area of responsibility. What I will say, in order to illustrate shocking recklessness of this Signal conversation, is that the Hegseth post contained operational details of forthcoming strikes on Yemen, including information about targets, weapons the U.S. would be deploying, and attacking sequencing.

The only person to reply to the update from Hegseth was the person identified as the vice president. "I will say a prayer for victory." Vance wrote. (Two other users subsequently added prayer emoji.)

According to the lengthy Hegseth text, the first detonations in Yemen would be felt two hours hence, at 1:45 p.m. eastern time. So I waited in my car in a supermarket parking lot. If this Signal chat was real, I reasoned, Houthi targets would soon be bombed. At about 1:55, I checked X and searched Yemen. Explosions were then being heard across Sanna, the capital city.

I went back to the Signal channel. At 1:48, "Michael Waltz" has provided the group an update. Again, I won't quote from this text, except to note that he described the operation as an "amazing job." A few minutes later, "John Ratcliffe" wrote, "A good start." Not long after, Waltz responded with three emoji: a fist, an American flag, and fire. Other soon joined in, including

Image #3: national-security officials, including the secretaries of defense, state, and the treasury, as well as the director of the CIA. It should go without saying—but I'll say it anyway—that I have never been invited to a White House principals-committee meeting, and that, in my many years of reporting on national-security matters, I had never heard of one being convened over a commercial meeting app.

One minute later, a person identified only as "MAR"—the secretary of state is Marco Antonio Rubio—wrote, "Mike Needham for State," apparently designating the current counselor of the State Department as his representative. At that same moment, a Signal user identified as "JD Vance" wrote, "Andy baker for VP." One minute after that, "TG" (presumably Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, or someone masquerading as her) wrote, "Joe Kent for DNI." Nine minutes later, "Scott B"—apparently Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, or someone spoofing his identity, wrote, "Dan Katz for Treasury." At 4:53 p.m., a user called "Pete Hegseth" wrote, "Dan Caldwell for DoD." And at 6:34 p.m., "Brian" wrote "Brian McCormack for NSC." One more person responded: "John Ratcliffe" wrote at 5:24 p.m. with the name of a CIA official to be included in the group. I am not publishing that name, because that person is an active intelligence officer.

The principals had apparently assembled. In all, 18 individuals were listed as members of this group, including various National Security Council officials; Steve Witkoff, President Trump's Middle East and Ukraine negotiator; Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff; and someone identified only as "S M," which I took to stand for Stephen Miller. I appeared on my own screen only as "JG."

Image #4: Text reading: At this point, a fascinating policy discussion commenced. The account labeled "JD Vance" responded at 8:16: "Team, I am out for the day doing an economic event in Michigan. But I think we are making a mistake." (Vance was indeed in Michigan that day.) The Vance account goes on to state, "3 percent of US trade runs through the suez, 40 percent of European trade does. There is a real risk that the public doesn't understand this or why it's necessary. The strongest reason to do this is, as POTUS said, to send a message."

The Vance account then goes on to make a noteworthy statement, considering that the vice president has not deviated publicly from Trump's position on virtually any issue. "I am not sure the president is aware how inconsistent this is with his message on Europe right now. There's a further risk that we see a moderate to severe spike in oil prices. I am willing to support the consensus of the team and keep these concerns to myself. But there is a strong argument for delaying this a month, doing the messaging work on why this matters, seeing where the economy is, etc."

A person identified in Signal as "Joe Kent" (Trumps nominee to run the National Counterterrorism Center is named Joe Kent), wrote at 8:22, "There is nothing time sensitive driving the time line. We'll have the exact same options in a month."

Then, at 8:26 a.m., a message landed in my Signal app from the user "John Ratcliffe." The message contained information that might be interpreted as related to actual and current intelligence operations.

Image #5: Text reading: Conceivably, Waltz, by coordinating a national-security-related action over Signal, may have violated several provisions of the Espionage Act, which governs the handling of "national defense" information, according to several national-security lawyers interviewed by my colleague Shane Harris for this story. Harris asked them to consider a hypothetical scenario in which a senior U.S. official creates a Signal thread for the express purpose of sharing information with Cabinet officials about an active military operation. He did not show them the actual Signal messages or tell them specifically what had occurred.

All of these lawyers said that a U.S. official should not establish a Signal thread in the first place. Information about an active operation would presumably fit the law's definition of "national defense" information. The Signal app is not approved by the government for sharing classified information. The government has it own systems for that purpose. If officials want to discuss military activity, they should go into a specially designed space known as a sensitive compartmented information facility, or SCIF—most Cabinet-level national-security officials have one installed in their home—or communicate only on approved government equipment, the lawyers said. Normally, cellphones are not permitted inside a SCIF, which suggests that as these officials were sharing information about an active military operations, they could have been moving around in public. Had they lost their phones, or had they been stolen, the potential risk to national security would have been severe. /End IDs]

This is possibly the most insane national security story in the last 50 years. Includes a massive text chain between senior members of the Trump admin gaming out foreign policy and war plans on Signal, and they accidentally added a reporter to the group chat.

[scope-dogg]

victacobell replied to your post “I’ve got mixed feelings about Trump defunding the WHO. On the one hand...”

Didn't Trump already defund the CDC?

Not the CDC. You’re probably thinking of the Global Health Security and Biodefense Unit within the National Security Council, which was established in 2015 by Susan Rice, the National Security Advisor under Barack Obama, following the 2014 Ebola outbreak. It was supposed to be the the entity that would head up the US national response to pandemics like this one. Trump dissolved it in 2018. Some of the staff left the administration and others were folded into different parts of the NSC, including into roles that still at least partially concerned pandemic response, so the jury’s somewhat out on whether the decision actually badly weakened the US’ pandemic response or not. Trump administration proponents have said it was a necessary move to reduce bloat at the NSC and consolidate expertise in a way that actually strengthened it overall. I think if you actually look at what was said by people involved, even those in favour, I think I’m personally more likely to believe that it damaged it. Here’s a quote from Tim Morrison who was the senior official in charge of biodefense as the NSC in a Washington Post op-ed about the move (emphasis mine)

“It is true that the Trump administration has seen fit to shrink the NSC staff. But the bloat that occurred under the previous administration clearly needed a correction. … One such move at the NSC was to create the counterproliferation and biodefense directorate, which was the result of consolidating three directorates into one, given the obvious overlap between arms control and nonproliferation, weapons of mass destruction terrorism, and global health and biodefense. It is this reorganization that critics have misconstrued or intentionally misrepresented. If anything, the combined directorate was stronger because related expertise could be commingled”

Now I don’t consider myself an expert on any of these issues, but to me the overlap here isn’t “obvious” at all. I fail to see how arms control and WMD terrorism correspond to pandemic control unless it was a deliberate attack with a bioweapon (there’s currently no hard proof that Covid-19 is a bioweapon and even if it is one it surely wasn’t released deliberately.) It also isn’t clear whether this new consolidated body still has the same clear authority to act in a pandemic event that Obama-era body had - from what it appears, it doesn’t, because you never hear about it, and all the guidance and press releases come from the CDC instead.

We can only speculate whether the US would have responded any differently or better than it has done in fact if the Obama-era pandemic response unit had been left intact. I definitely don’t think it would be any worse, though.

Edit: Source:

https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-trump-fired-pandemic-team/partly-false-claim-trump-fired-pandemic-response-team-in-2018-idUSKBN21C32M

[quakerjoe]

Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland’s testimony makes exquisitely clear that the House, in exercising its impeachment power, is entitled to hear from a series of witnesses who have so far either refused requests to testify or not been summoned. They include, at a minimum: Vice President Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, former national security adviser John Bolton, soon-to-be-former Energy Secretary Rick Perry and Rudolph W. Giuliani, the president’s personal lawyer.

While we’re at it, Sondland — and the committee — should be given access to documents that could help refresh his frustratingly spotty recollections. The administration’s high-handed order that witnesses not cooperate with the House probe and refusal to turn over relevant documents is an act of obstruction — and a likely count in the articles of impeachment. But the goal isn’t proving obstruction — it is getting at the truth.

The latest updates in the Trump impeachment hearings

The individuals listed above are firsthand fact witnesses in an inquiry whose seriousness was underscored by Sondland’s stark assessment: “Was there a ‘quid pro quo’? With regard to the requested White House call and White House meeting, the answer is yes,” Sondland testified. In addition, he said with regard to the $400 million in military aid for Ukraine whose release was being held up, “In the absence of any credible explanation for the hold, I came to the conclusion that the aid, like the White House visit, was jeopardized,” Sondland said.

Republicans have conjured up a bunch of smoke about the unfairness and unreliability of hearsay evidence, although hearsay rules do not apply in this setting, nor are they absolute. They have tried to discredit or play down the significance of some witnesses on the grounds that they had no direct contact with President Trump. Well, then let’s hear from those who did. The Watergate question is a cliche but one with particular pertinence here: What did they know, and when did they know it? Some fruitful potential areas of questioning:

— Pence. Sondland testified that he spoke to the vice president before a Sept. 1 meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Warsaw. “I mentioned to Vice President Pence before the meetings with the Ukrainians that I had concerns that the delay in aid had become tied to the issue of investigations,” Sondland testified. “I recall mentioning that before the Zelensky meeting. During the actual meeting, President Zelensky raised the issue of security assistance directly with Vice President Pence. The vice president said he would speak to President Trump about it.”

Pence’s office responded with a statement from his chief of staff, Marc Short, denying Sondland’s account. “The Vice President never had a conversation with Gordon Sondland about investigating the Bidens, Burisma, or the conditional release of financial aid to Ukraine based upon potential investigations. Ambassador Gordon Sondland was never alone with Vice President Pence on the September 1 trip to Poland. This alleged discussion recalled by Ambassador Sondland never happened.” Fine. If this is Pence’s account, it should not be a problem for him to answer questions about it under oath.

— Pompeo. Preparing for that Sept. 1 meeting, which Trump was originally scheduled to attend himself, Sondland testified that he asked Pompeo “whether a face-to-face conversation between Trump with Zelensky could help” to get the aid released. “I would ask Zelensky to look him in the eye and tell him that once Ukraine’s new justice folks are in place … that Ze should be able to move forward publicly and with confidence on those issues of importance to Potus and to the U.S. Hopefully, that will break the logjam,” Sondland wrote to Pompeo. “Secretary Pompeo replied, ‘Yes.’” What did Pompeo know about why the aid was being held up?

— Mulvaney. Sondland read from a July 19 email to Mulvaney, Pompeo, Perry and others in advance of Trump’s call with Zelensky: “He is prepared to receive Potus’ call. Will assure him that he intends to run a fully transparent investigation and will ‘turn over every stone’. He would greatly appreciate a call prior to Sunday so that he can put out some media about a ‘friendly and productive call’ (no details) prior to Ukraine election on Sunday.” Mulvaney responded: “I asked NSC to set it up for tomorrow.” What did Mulvaney & Co. know about the demands for an investigation?

— Bolton. “Everyone was in the loop,“ Sondland testified. “On August 26, shortly before his visit to Kyiv, Ambassador Bolton’s office requested Mr. Giuliani’s contact information. I sent Ambassador Bolton the information directly.” Did Bolton speak with Giuliani? What was the conversation?

— Perry. After Trump directed officials to “talk to Rudy,” Sondland testified, “Secretary Perry volunteered to make the initial calls with Mr. Giuliani, given his prior relationship.” The Energy Department issued a statement, saying Sondland "misrepresented both Secretary Perry’s interaction with Rudy Giuliani and direction the Secretary received from President Trump.” Great! Let’s hear from him.

— Giuliani. There are too many questions for him to detail here, but you get the point: House members, and the American people, are entitled to hear this evidence.

The Constitution assigns the House of Representatives the sole power to impeach the president. This presumes the power to conduct impeachment inquiries, which presumes the power to call relevant witnesses — whether or not the president who is being impeached is happy about it.

[kpop---scenarios]

Maniac (6)

Pairing: Hyunjin x Reader x Minho

Warning: Nothing really, being scared, language, kidnapped

Word Count: 2k

Taglist: @oddracha @hyunjinhoexxx @baby-stay92 @felixleftchickennugget

@skzooluvr @felixleftchickennugget @elzz123 @bangchansleftbutcheek

@kayleefriedchicken @yaorzu-blog @rylea08 @vietjeb @iovecb97

@skzdust @anylady-fics @ilovemyapopbaby @gloriajovicc

@kkamismom12 @chuuyaobsessed

Everything Taglist: @wife2straykidss @piscesrising01 @baby-stay92 @kisses-too-the-moon

@dwaekkiiracha @silly250 @rylea08 @imperfectlyperfectprincess1

@satosugu4l @gabriellamarie @tsunderelino @iovecb97 @1810cl

@lordmaahes-nsc @sailorkoss @minh0scat @pixie0627 @50-husbands

@jinnies-muse @yaorzu-blog @anskiiz @joyofbebbanburg @number1jeonginstan @skzooluvr

@jisunglyricist @ambersnowxxx @ayyonoona @31maze13 @stay-tiny-things @thegingerthatwaited @hoesheez

“Why the fuck does she look so disheveled?” Minho snaps at the man who had you. “Did I not give you a goddamn list of what you can and cannot do?” He spits.

“Oh fuck man, we went off just a little bit.” The man scoffs. “The little bitch has a fucking mouth on her.”

“I'll fucking kill you if you talk about her like that again.” Minho grunts, helping you up off the chair. He puts his jacket over you, with his arm around your shoulder as he helps you walk out of the building. The sun is so bright it almost blinds you, it had felt like years since you'd seen it shining. You had so many questions for Minho but at this moment, you were too tired, dirty, sore and hungry to even ask him. He leads you into the back of his car, gently helping you in and buckling your seatbelt. He goes around to the driver's side of the car, turning on the car and driving away from the building.

Minho glances back at you through the rear view mirror, like he was keeping an eye on you. Making sure you weren't going to open the back door and roll out of the speeding car. It's not like you hadn't thought about it, but you didn't have the strength to do it.

“Are you hungry?” He asks, looking at you once again.

You nod your head, holding his jacket around your body tighter. You were scared, sad and honestly you just wanted to see Hyunjin. Oh, he's probably so worried about you. You can imagine him and your father out trying to find you. If only they knew, you were closer than they thought.

A little while later, Minho pulls into a driveway, parking the car near the large front door. He helps your weak body out of the car, almost carrying you inside the house. He leads you up the stairs and into a room, which is decorated, with pictures scattered around.

“Is this your room?” You ask. Minho smiles, nodding his head.

“Yeah. Here.” He says, opening another door. “You can take a shower.”

You gave him a small smile, you knew you needed to be compliant for now.

“Do you need help?” He asks.

“No, no that's okay. But thank you.” You mumble, hoping he wouldn't push it. You didn't have the energy to fight him and you didn't want to.

“I'll get you something to wear and then we'll have food, okay?” He grins.

“Sure. That sounds good.” You reply.

Please just leave.

Minho leaves the bathroom, closing the door behind him. Once you're in the shower, it all finally hits you. You were kidnapped, beaten, verbally abused… and Minho was behind it all? You didn't want to be here. You just wanted Hyunjin. You needed a way to tell him where you were without Minho getting suspicious.

You stand there for a while, letting the water run down your body, washing your bruises, your cuts and scrapes. You watch the water splash onto the floor, becoming so dirty as the memories of the last, however long, run down the drain with the dirty water. When you finally feel like you're clean enough, you turn off the water, grabbing the fluffy towel, wrapping it around yourself. You take a deep breath. You didn't want to face Minho again but you knew you didn't have a choice. You were a strong woman. If you could survive what you went through, you could find a way to survive this. You open the door, seeing Minho sitting on the bed, with folded clothes in his lap. As soon as he sees you, he stands up, walking towards you with the clothes. He hands them to you without a word. You go back into the bathroom, putting on the sweat pants and oversized shirt he gave to you. Opening the door once again, you walk out of the bathroom, clean and refreshed. Minho holds out his hand for you to take. It took everything you had in you to take his hand in yours. After everything he wanted to act like he didn't do anything?

“Let's go get some food.” He says, leading you out of the room. You walk back down the stairs, following behind him. You're trying to take in the massive house but you're distracted by the smell of food cooking. Minho leads you into the kitchen, where there is a spread of food lined across the counter. Anything and everything you could want was out and it made your mouth drool.

“Dig in.” Minho says, handing you a plate.

You get some of everything, until you can't hold anymore on your plate. You sit at the kitchen table, slowly beginning to eat. Minho sits down across from you, only a few things scattered on his plate.

“I'm sure you have some questions.” He sighs, pushing his plate out of the way, leaning against his arms on the table.

“I do.” You say, swallowing the food in your mouth.

“Did you plan the whole thing?” You ask. “The kidnapping, selling me… all of it?”

“Yeah, I did.” He says.

“Why?”

“Because I knew you wouldn't choose me.” Minho explains. “I knew you'd choose Hyunjin, because I've fucked up slightly as few times.”

“I'm sorry, what?” You scoff. “I went through that hell because you convinced yourself that I wouldn't choose you?” You yell.

“I'm not wrong, Am I?” He yells back. “After our first date, there's no fucking way you would have chosen me.”

“How do you know? It was a first date, I hadn't made any decisions about who I was going to pick!” You yell.

“Yeah right.” He scoffs. “I could see the way you looked at Hyunjin. You never looked at me like that, did you?”

“What are you talking about?” You ask.

“Dont play fucking dumb, Y/N. I know you're not an idiot. You're just like everyone else, fucking swooning over him. I needed a win this time! I needed to prove to my father that I could do something fucking right!” He yells.

“Are you kidding me?” You laugh, but there's no humor. “All of this was over showing your father that you weren't a fuck up?” You snap. “Fucking news flash, Minho. You are a goddamn fuck up!” You scream.

Minho shoves himself back from the table. He stands up, reaching over the table, slapping you across the face. You sit there, shocked for a moment, until an uncontrollable amount of rage fuels you.

“You know what?” You begin. “You're right, I wouldn't have chosen you. Who fucking would!?. And this shit.” You pause. “This elaborate plan you concocted, makes me even more sure that I would never, ever marry a fucking insecure, gambling addicted failure, not to mention psychotic, piece of shit like you!” You scream, throwing your plate at him, quickly getting out of your chair and bolting for the front door. You run past what look like his father's men, who are standing there watching you run down the hallway.

“Fucking stop her!” Minho screams, pointing towards you. The men rush after you, but you're already out the door and half way through the field. You don't have any shoes on but you don't care. You needed to get away from him. You run into the woods, feeling the branches break under your feet, poking you as the leaves crunch beneath you. Even as you're being stabbed by rocks, branches, and whatever else is on the ground, your pace doesn't falter. Your chest hurts, your legs are burning, you can't catch your breath. You can hear them behind you, running through the woods to find you. You can hear Minho screaming your name. You didn't want to go back to him. You couldn't. You couldn't spend one more moment with the man who organized your kidnapping. You just wanted to go home.

You finally got to the point where you couldn't run anymore. Your legs wouldn't take you any further. You look around, finding a large tree, you quickly rush towards it, sinking down behind the tree. You cover your mouth with your hand, trying to quiet your breathing. You can hear twigs snapping all around you. You try to make yourself smaller, trying to blend in with the tree.

Anything.

“Oh Y/N. Come out, come out, wherever you are!” Minho yells. His voice echos, but sounds closer with each call of your name. Tears brim in your eyes, one tear rolling down your cheek. You're trying so hard not to sob right now.

“Come on, baby. Come out. Let's go home, we can eat and then go to bed!” He yells. He sounds closer. Your heart is pounding. Your stomach is a swarm of anxiety. You close your eyes, begging inside your head to wake you up from this fucking nightmare.

“Please wake me up. Please. Please.” You whisper to yourself. You were begging anyone, anything, whatever higher power there was. You just needed someone. Something to help you get out of this forest and away from Minho. You had been in some scary situations before but never something like this. You felt like you were being hunted, and you just wanted to go home. You wanted to see Hyunjin and your father.

You hear a crunch. Right in front of you. You take a breath. You open your eyes. Seeing a pair of shoes right in front of you. You look up, seeing Minho smiling down at you.

“Found you.” He whispers in a chilling voice. He was smiling but you could tell he was filled with rage and you didn't know what he was capable of.

And that was scarier than anything.

Minho grabs you by your arm, digging his fingers deep into you as he forces you up to your feet. He keeps his grip on you as he practically drags you out of the forest. He didn't say a single word to you the entire way back to the house, and you were terrified. The look in his eyes was indescribable, he looked almost dead inside. Minho brings you back inside the house, bringing you upstairs and shoves you down on the bed. He looks at you with such hate.

“Why couldn't you just love me?” He asks. “Huh?” He yells. “No answer?”

You just look at him. You can't form any words, you don't even know what you could possibly say to him. You had no answer, you at least didn't have the answer that he wanted you to have.

“Don't fucking move.” He snaps. “Move an inch and they'll never find your fucking body.” He spits, walking out of the room, slamming the door behind him. You can't move. You can't breathe. All you can do is cry, but even then, if you move he'll kill you.

And you really believed him when he said he would. Something inside him has snapped and the longer you stayed trapped in this house, the closer to death you probably were. You quickly get up, running to the window. You fumbled with the lock, pushing it up, and you climbed out onto the roof. You hadn't realized how high up his room actually was. Did you jump? Didn't you climb back inside and risk seeing what Minho had planned for you?

You need to make a decision fast. If you jumped and broke something, you wouldn't be able to run away, but you also didn't want to see what Minho might actually do to you. You took a breath, knowing what was your best and really, only option. You climbed back into Minho's room, quickly and quietly, closing the window before getting back on the bed, hopefully in the same position while also trying to control your breathing.

Seconds later, Minho comes back into the room, ropes in hand.

“Don't worry baby.” He smiles, a soulless smile. “You'll come around. They always do.”

If you enjoy my stories, and would like to read more of them, please consider donating or commissioning a story. You can do so HERE. I appreciate you and you help ♡

[naruto-shipping-confessions]

He's not as popular as some characters, but he is/was generally well-liked.

[thedcdunce]

Amanda Waller

“I don't care. I'm not part of the law anymore. Kill them.” - Amanda Waller

Real Name: Amanda Blake

Aliases: 

Black King

Mockingbird

White Queen

Gender: Female

Height: 5′ 1″

Weight: 200 lbs (91 kg)

Eyes: Brown

Hair: Black

Abilities:

Espionage

Firearms

Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced)

Indomitable Will

Intimidation

Manipulation

Political Science

Tactical Analysis

Universe: New Earth

Citizenship: American

Base of Operations: Washington D.C.

Marital Status: Widowed (Joseph Waller; husband)

Occupation:

Government Agent

Politician

First Appearance: Legends #1 (November, 1986)

Abilities

Espionage

Firearms

Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced)

Indomitable Will

Intimidation

Manipulation

Political Science: Amanda has a degree in political science.

Tactical Analysis

Origins

Amanda Blake grew up in the crime-ridden Cabrini-Green area of Chicago. At the age of 18 she married the 20-year-old Joseph Waller, and they quickly had a large family together. Her first child was Joe, Jr., then Damita, then the twins Martin and Jessie, and then her youngest child Coretta. Their lives were a financial struggle, and they relied on social programs, but they were happy. Joe, Jr. was set to go to college on a basketball scholarship until he was killed in a mugging gone wrong. Damita was raped and murdered in an alleyway on her way home from church. They knew who was responsible, but the police could not get a conviction with no witnesses. Her husband Joseph Waller set out to kill the rapist "Candyman" and both men shot each other dead. Amanda swore that the streets would take no more of her family. She worked hard to put all of her other children through college, then she put herself through college and earned a political science degree. Amanda decided to go into politics, and she approached democratic congressional candidate Marvin Collins to become his campaign director. Collins was elected thanks to her efforts, and he took her to Washington as his aide. Amanda discovered the old Task Force X files while searching through old bills, and asked to revive the Suicide Squad under her direction.

The Agency

The Agency was formed by Amanda Waller to serve as a small, quasi-independent branch of Task Force X. Valentina Vostok brought former NYPD Lieutenant Harry Stein into the Agency as an operative. Amanda Waller later promoted Stein to the command position and demoted Vostok. Harry Stein would later re-organize the Agency and name it Checkmate.

Legends

Amanda Waller rebuilds Task Force X, and its former leader Rick Flag is assigned to work under her. Flag argues with Waller about her agenda, and Waller says the only thing she cares about is his ability to follow orders. Nightshade is the second member she recruits, as an undercover operative. Her first target is Brimstone, and she has a team of scientists analyze the monster for weaknesses. Waller puts together a new Suicide Squad lead by Flag with members including Blockbuster, Bronze Tiger, Captain Boomerang, and Enchantress. The criminals are offered pardons in exchange for their service, and fitted with explosive bracelets that will detonate if they disobey orders. Her team destroys Brimstone at Mount Rushmore. Blockbuster is the only casualty, despite her expectations that all of them would die. Waller tries to keep the criminals in custody, but Flag insists on honoring their deal and releases them. Captain Boomerang is captured by G. Gordon Godfrey, and threatens to expose the Suicide Squad unless they rescue him. Amanda gives them orders to silence Captain Boomerang by any means necessary. Flag insists on solving the problem non-lethally. Waller later presents her case to President Reagan, and thanks to this success he decides to let the team continue on a provisional basis.

Suicide Squad

Waller sets her team up in Louisiana's Belle Reve prison, under the care of warden John Economos. Simon LaGrieve and Marnie Herrs conduct psychological profiles, and warn her that the entire team is emotionally unstable, but Waller is unconcerned. Waller briefs the team and sends them on their next mission, destroying the terrorist group Jihad in Qurac. Waller authorizes Doctor Moon and Karin Grace to mindwipe the traitor Plastique. This infuriates Flag, and Amanda agrees that it is wrong of her. Belle Reve is attacked by the Female Furies of Apokolips, and Waller is unable to stop them from taking her prisoner G. Gordon Godfrey. They are asked to take down the racist vigilante William Hell, and Waller insists they discredit him instead of making a martyr for the "white power" movement. President Reagan has Waller send the Suicide Squad to arrest Firestorm, under the leadership of their incompetent NSC liaison Derek Tolliver.

Waller argues against the team going on purely political missions, but they are sent to rescue imprisoned author Zoya Trigorin in Moscow. LaGrieve worries that Amanda is suppressing anger over her family deaths, and counsels her to channel it into something productive. Amanda confronts Derek Tolliver for sending her team on the irresponsible Moscow mission, and Tolliver replies that her team was expendable. She punches him in the face, and tells him that this does not mean their lives can be thrown away like garbage. Flag has a breakdown following this mission, and Waller relieves him of command duty.

There is a political summit during Millennium, and Waller has an inter-agency rivalry with General Eiling. Waller sends her team to destroy the Manhunter temple with a bomb, and does not tell them they are all expected to die in the explosion. Batman infiltrates Belle Reve and threatens to expose the Squad. Waller stands up to Batman and talks him down by threatening to expose his secret identity, using the fingerprints of Matches Malone. Flag impresses her in the fight against Batman, and she reinstates his command. Waller is forced to send Rick Flag on another mission she politically disagrees with, rescuing Hawk in Nicaragua. She sends the rest of the team to kill drug czar Xavier Cujo. Nightshade argues that an illegal assassination is murder, and Waller replies that it is justice. Speedy tells her that this did not fix anything, and she only created a power vacuum. The Agency is reorganized by Harry Stein to become Checkmate, under Task Force X. Amanda Waller becomes their boss.

Rick Flag disobeys Waller to rescue their operative Nemesis, who was stranded in the Soviet Union. Waller is so angry that she has President Reagan send Justice League International to stop them. The JLI's publicist Maxwell Lord threatens to expose them, and Waller intimidates Lord with violence. Senator Cray blackmails President Reagan and the Suicide Squad to help his reelection campaign. Waller is forced to work under Derek Tolliver, Cray's aide, or she will be fired. In a moment of weakness, she confides in Bronze Tiger that everything has gone with her idea since the start. Amanda reveals that Bronze Tiger was supposed to be the leader, and Rick Flag was imposed on her, which she believes is because of racism. Despite this setback, she regroups and leads the team to save the world from Doctor ZZ. The Jihad returns to attack Manhattan, and they deliver an ultimatum demanding Waller's team be handed over. Waller orders Rick Flag not to intervene, and he disobeys her, so she tells him to do the job right this time.

Waller's inability to deal and compromise with her people led to the departure from the team of Nemesis, the death of a US senator and thereby indirectly to the death of Rick Flag Jr. Nonetheless, the team remained loyal to her, often choosing to side with her instead of the government. It was ultimately revealed that the reason that Amanda Waller even kept the heroes such as Nightshade around, was in order for them to act as her conscience. Over the course of her first run with the Suicide Squad her actions became increasingly erratic as she fought to retain control of the Squad. This was heightened by the public reveal of the Suicide Squad, and her being officially replaced, although her 'replacement' was in fact an actor, and Waller remained the team's director. Even that secret would eventually be revealed and Amanda Waller would be put on trial. During this time, the Squad also became involved in an inter-agency conflict in a crossover between the Checkmate and Suicide Squad titles called the Janus Directive. She eventually found herself serving prison time for her pursuit of an organized crime cartel based in New Orleans called the LOA and killing its leadership, using Squad operatives in the process.

The Squad's rebirth

Waller was eventually pardoned and released a year later to reorganize the Squad as a freelance mercenary group at the behest of Sarge Steel to deal with a crisis in Vlatava, Count Vertigo's home country. Afterwards the Suicide Squad performed a variety of missions, but were ultimately disbanded when Waller became disillusioned with her life.

During the course of her renewed tenure with this team, Amanda Waller became closer to her operatives, even accompanying them on their field missions. This allowed for her and her team to bond more effectively, although she retained her dominant and threatening personality.

Shadow Fighters

Around this time Amanda Waller would organize many superheros to confront the villain Eclipso. Again she would confront Sarge Steel. Her first attempt at a team did not go well as most of the them were brutally murdered. Her second attempt with a much larger team had much more success.

President Luthor

She would eventually rejoin federal service, initially as Southeastern regional director for the Department of Extranormal Operations, and eventually got promoted to Secretary of Metahuman Affairs as a member of the Luthor Administration. Luthor would use her as he saw fit, one of the few who could.

Checkmate

In the wake of being jailed briefly for her alleged connections to Luthor's illicit activities whilst in office, she was released yet again and ordered by President Jonathan Vincent Horne to take command of Checkmate in the wake of the O.M.A.C. Project debacle as a placeholder "Black King" until the United States and United Nations could decide what to do with that organization.

One Year Later

In the revamped Checkmate series, Waller is shown to have been assigned by the UN to serve as Checkmate's White Queen, a member of its senior policy-making executive, although she appears to have her own agenda, blackmailing Fire into committing murder on her behalf during Checkmate missions. Waller's assignment as White Queen has her commissioning the imprisoned Atom Smasher to organize a new Suicide Squad to attack Black Adam.

As leader of the reformed Checkmate, Waller has continued to use morally ambiguous methods to achieve her agenda, ranging from secretly authorizing a "take no prisoners" mandate in an attack on a Kobra stronghold, blackmailing Beatriz da Costa, a former assassin, into returning to her old murderous ways, and executing a female Kobra operative herself when she foils an assassination attempt. She later used the Suicide Squad to round up dangerous criminals and metahumans as part of Operation: Salvation Run, an unauthorized plan to exile various supervillains to another planet, later revealed to be a part of the Apokoliptian Empire. When Waller's colleague found out about the Operation, they forced her to resign as White Queen, though she managed to retain authority over the Suicide Squad.

Task Force X

After her resignation from Checkmate, forces in the US Government recommissioned her as the overseer and director of the Belle Reve metahuman prison and the leader of a new Suicide Squad known as Task Force X due to deeming her teem as a necessary asset to the US Government.

Fun Facts

Amanda Waller's sister Mary has said that she was raised Baptist, which means Amanda was as well.

[bountyofbeads]

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2019/09/27/politics/white-house-restricted-trump-calls-putin-saudi/index.html?__twitter_impression=true

🚨 🚨 BREAKING NEWS: Trump White House Took Extraordinary Steps to Hide Transcripts of Calls With Not Just One But *Three* Nations Involved in the Pre-Election "Grand Bargain"

White House aides took remarkable steps to keep President Trump's phone calls with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Russian leader Vladimir Putin from becoming public, according to people familiar with the matter. https://t.co/8zbhsNNJBO

White House restricted access to Trump's calls with Putin and Saudi crown prince

By Pamela Brown, Jim Sciutto and Kevin Liptak | Updated 7:27 PM EDT, Fri September 27, 2019 | CNN | Posted September 27, 2019 7:55 PM ET |

Washington(CNN)White House efforts to limit access to President Donald Trump's conversations with foreign leaders extended to phone calls with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Russian leader Vladimir Putin, according to people familiar with the matter.

Those calls -- both with leaders who maintain controversial relationships with Trump -- were among the presidential conversations that aides took remarkable steps to keep from becoming public.

In the case of Trump's call with Prince Mohammed, officials who ordinarily would have been given access to a rough transcript of the conversation never saw one, according to one of the sources. Instead, a transcript was never circulated at all, which the source said was highly unusual, particularly after a high-profile conversation.

The call - which the person said contained no especially sensitive national security secrets -- came as the White House was confronting the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, which US intelligence assessments said came at the hand of the Saudi government.

With Putin, access to the transcript of at least one of Trump's conversations was also tightly restricted, according to a former Trump administration official.

It's not clear if aides took the additional step of placing the Saudi Arabia and Russia phone calls in the same highly secured electronic system that held a now-infamous phone call with Ukraine's president and which helped spark a whistleblower complaint made public this week, though officials confirmed calls aside from the Ukraine conversation were placed there.

But the attempts to conceal information about Trump's discussions with Prince Mohammed and Putin further illustrate the extraordinary efforts taken by Trump's aides to strictly limit the number of people with access to his conversations with foreign leaders.

The White House did not comment about the limiting of access to calls with the Russian and Saudi leaders.

Officials said the practice began more than a year ago after embarrassing leaks revealed information about Trump's phone conversations with the leaders of Australia and Mexico. While it includes the highly secure system for particularly sensitive matters, it has also extended to limiting the number of individuals who are provided a transcript or are able to listen to the call.

Those efforts have come under scrutiny after the intelligence whistleblower alleged that White House officials took unusual steps to conceal Trump's phone call with Ukraine's new president.

The complaint alleged the handling of the Ukraine call was "not the first time" that such steps had been taken "solely for the purpose of protecting political sensitive — rather than national security sensitive — information."

Administration officials say John Eisenberg, the White House deputy counsel for national security affairs and a national security legal adviser, directed the Ukraine transcript call be moved to the separate highly classified system, as detailed in the whistleblower complaint.

That system is normally reserved for "code word" documents that are extremely sensitive, such as covert operations.

Eisenberg also played a role in the early Justice Department handling of the whistleblower complaint. Eisenberg was on an August 14 call with the general counsel of the intelligence agency where the complainant worked, and John Demers, the assistant attorney general for the Justice national security division, a US official briefed on the matter said.

During that call, the general counsel informed Eisenberg and Demers that there were concerns being raised about one of Trump's phone calls with a foreign leader. Eisenberg invited Demers and the intelligence agency's general counsel to review the transcript of the call, and Demers traveled to the White House the following day to review it. The general counsel of the intelligence agency declined to review the call, according to the official.

The White House acknowledged earlier Friday that administration officials directed the Ukraine call transcript be filed in a highly classified system, confirming allegations contained in the whistleblower complaint.

In a statement provided to CNN, a senior White House official said the move to place the transcript in the system came at the direction of National Security Council attorneys.

"NSC lawyers directed that the classified document be handled appropriately," the senior White House official said.

But the statement did not explain whether anyone else in the White House was part of the decision to put the Ukraine transcript in the more restrictive system. Nor did it delve into an accusation in the complaint that other phone call transcripts were handled in a similar fashion.

Like the call with Saudi's crown prince, the Ukraine transcript did not contain highly classified information to require such a move, raising questions about why the order was made.

The White House has not explained why it selectively put certain head of state calls into the codeword system, even when the content wasn't highly classified, such as the Ukraine call.

Officials from the past two administrations said it was unusual to transfer a transcript that doesn't contain sensitive information into the code word computer system.

"In my experience you would never move a transcript to the code word system if it does not have any code word terms. If the president is classifying and declassifying stuff he doesn't want to get out, that is an abuse of power and abuse of the system," said Sam Vinograd, a CNN national security analyst who served on President Barack Obama's National Security Council and at the Treasury Department under President George W. Bush.

Three other former National Security Council officials said they were unaware of calls that did not contain highly sensitive national security materials being moved into another location.

While the practice of limiting access to foreign leader calls began in earnest last year after the leaks of Mexico and Australian calls, it's not clear precisely when the initial steps were taken begin that effort.

The White House was also embarrassed when it was reported Trump had congratulated Putin on a phone call shortly after a Russian election widely seen as illegitimate. White House staff had written a memo specifically recommending Trump "do not congratulate" Putin in the call.

John Bolton, Trump's former national security adviser who departed from his post earlier this month, was known for keeping a tight hold on all information generally speaking, according to sources who worked with him at the NSC. He did not reply when asked for a request for comment through his spokesperson.

A former administration official said that despite the code word protection, you didn't necessarily need a special clearance to view the records and there was a process for officials to access the calls they wanted.

Trump's relationships with both Prince Mohammed and Putin have come under scrutiny over the past several years. Both are strongmen with dismal human rights records.

After Khashoggi was murdered at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018, Trump vowed to get to the bottom of the matter. But he has repeatedly said he's unwilling to break off US-Saudi ties -- including military and trade — as a result.

With Putin, Trump has regularly worked arduously to guard his conversations, including asking for notes taken by his interpreter after their first encounter in 2017. He remains sensitive to accusations he's too cozy with the Russian leader who oversaw an election interference effort to get him elected.

CNN's Evan Perez and Kylie Atwood contributed to this report.

[naruto-general-opinions]

[cyberbenb]

Trump's national security adviser Waltz starts purging NSC, including aides working with Ukraine

U.S. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz has launched a full vetting of the National Security Council (NSC) staff, including those working with Ukraine, in line with Donald Trump’s America First agenda, the Washington Post (WP) reported on Jan. 23.

Since returning to the White House, Trump has implemented significant changes in the new administration’s staff. Trump’s picks included candidates who have made controversial statements about Ukraine’s support and ending the war.

The “full review” aims to ensure that the NSC staff “are committed to implementing President Trump’s America First agenda to protect our national security and wisely use the tax dollars of America’s working men and women,” National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes said in a statement.

During a telephone call on Jan. 22, conducted by Waltz’s chief of staff, Brian McCormack, NSC employees were told that they were to leave the office immediately. They were instructed that they could return only at the request of their supervisors, senior directors appointed by the Trump administration, the WP reported.

According to the outlet, about 150 employees remained from the Biden administration, and the departure of such a large number of employees could complicate the administration’s work during the transition period.

Dozens of officials sent home on Jan. 22 had been assigned to the NSC from other government agencies, including the Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency, the State Department, and the Pentagon.

Those interested in staying with the NSC under Trump were asked to contact the human resources department and told that the new team would review those requests, according to three officials familiar with the matter.

Trump has yet to present a detailed plan for peace in Ukraine, despite campaigning on promises to put a swift end to the conflict. While he frequently references his good relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, his comments on Moscow in recent days have taken a somewhat harder line.

When asked on Jan. 21 if he would impose additional sanctions if Putin refuses to negotiate, Trump replied: “Sounds likely.”

President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Jan. 21 Ukraine is actively working to arrange a meeting between him and Trump.

“We are your partner. We know all the sore spots; we have lost our people,” Zelensky said, noting Trump’s pledge to end the war in 2025. “We want to end the war this year. But not just quickly, but fairly and, above all, reliably for us."

What are Trump’s options on Russia’s war against Ukraine?

As U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is set to take office on Jan. 20, Ukraine’s fate hangs in the balance. While some potential details of Trump’s future peace proposals have been leaked, the overall plan still remains unclear. Since the Nov. 5 presidential election, Trump and his team have sent

The Kyiv IndependentOleg Sukhov