by Oui
Sat Dec 2nd, 2017 at 02:18:59 PM EST
Speaking of COLLUSION by employing a foreign agent, or worse to have direct contact with Israeli dignitaries during the transition period as President-elect ...
○ requesting Russian veto on settlements building on Palestinian land
○ quid-pro-quo for Jewish hardliners in his campaign funding
○ moving the US Embassy from Tel Aviv into disputed territory of Jerusalem
[Update-1] Journalist Marcy Wheeler tweeted this morning: “The big news is that Flynn lied
to FBI about [Israeli] settlements vote. This is not just RU [Russia], folks. Never has been.”
...
It’s clear now that it’s all one panic.
The most public confirmed unmasking involved Susan Rice discovering that Sheikh Mohammed
bin Zayed al-Nahyan [Abu Dhabi] had a secret meeting with Flynn, Kushner, and Bannon in NY.
Egypt: Trump convinced Sisi to withdraw UN resolution | Al Jazeera - Dec. 23, 2016 |
Egypt agreed to postpone a vote on a UN Security Council resolution against Israeli settlements after US President-elect Donald Trump called President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the Egyptian president's office said.
Egypt had circulated the draft late on Wednesday, demanding Israel halt settlement activity in the occupied West Bank, and a vote was initially scheduled for Thursday.
But it requested that the resolution be postponed after Israel launched a frantic lobbying effort, including calls from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the US to use its veto power at the Security Council to block the resolution.
More below the fold ...
Were other Trump aides lobbying for Israel illicitly alongside Michael Flynn? | The Guardian |
The guilty plea entered on Friday by Donald Trump's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, has raised critical new questions not only about the relationship between the Trump team and Russian officials - but also whether Flynn and other members of the Trump transition team were improperly lobbying on behalf of Israel.
Among the statements about which Flynn has admitted lying to the FBI is his depiction of a conversation with the then Russian ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, relating to the run-up to the controversial December 2016 UN security council resolution 2334 on Israeli settlement building - which passed after the Obama administration abstained.
Israel, it was reported widely at the time, had been lobbying the team of then President-elect Trump in an attempt to derail the vote.
And according to the charge sheet against Flynn one of the false statements he has admitted giving to the FBI, was his denial that he had spoken to Kislyak on 22 December 2016 asking Russia to delay the vote on the UN resolution.
My diary on the first day of 2017 ...
PM May: Replica of the Thatcher - Reagan Era
British leader Theresa May breaks with John Kerry's condemnation of Israel | WaPo |
British Prime Minister Theresa May condemned a blunt speech this week by Secretary of State John F. Kerry on the state of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, an unusual move that boosted Britain's relations with the incoming Trump administration at the expense of President Obama.
The rare diplomatic spat between Britain and the United States, which was met with surprise by the State Department, highlighted the fast-collapsing influence of the lame-duck White House. It also pointed to a vast reordering of international affairs expected after Donald Trump takes office in three weeks, as U.S. allies position themselves to curry favor in the new order.
Theresa May's criticism of John Kerry's speech sparks blunt US reply | The Guardian |
Theresa May has distanced the UK from Washington over John Kerry's condemnation of Israel, in comments that appear to be designed to build bridges with the incoming Trump administration.
« click for more info
A post-Brexit world (Credit: Chappatte in Int. New York Times)
However the US state department last night reacted with some bluntness to May's statement.
Flynn Pleads Guilty to Lying About Trump Sabotage of Security Council Resolution Against Israel Settlements | Tikun Olam |
This morning, former Trump national security advisor Michael Flynn pleads guilty to lying to the FBI [NYT] about his efforts with Jared Kushner to torpedo a United Nations Security Council resolution criticizing Israeli settlements. These included lobbying the Russian ambassador to help in this campaign by delaying or cancelling a vote on the matter. Earlier today, I published a new column in Middle East Eye (MEE) which outlined the case against Kushner.
...
Here's how the Times laid out the context:
In one of the conversations described in court documents, the men discussed an upcoming United Nations Security Council vote on whether to condemn Israel's building of settlements. At the time, the Obama administration was preparing to allow a Security Council vote on the matter.
[Read on ...]