Category: VIOLENCE

Why was Rand banned? Sen. Paul reveals his CENSORED question at Trump impeachment trial

CAP

As Senators gathered for the last day of questioning in President Trump’s impeachment trial, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul found his question censored in a way that may have revealed the identity of the mysterious whistleblower.

With the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump nearing its final stages, senators gathered on Capitol Hill on Thursday to question the Democratic prosecution team, and Trump’s defense attorneys. However, Paul (R-Kentucky) found his question shot down by presiding Chief Justice John Roberts, who declined “to read the question as submitted.”

Paul left the chamber after Roberts’ denial.

Taking to Twitter afterwards, Paul revealed that he planned on asking whether Obama-era “partisans” within Trump’s National Security Council conspired with House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff to engineer impeachment proceedings against Trump, by sounding the alarm on the now-infamous July phone call between Trump and Ukrainain President Volodymyr Zelensky.

“Are you aware that House intelligence committee staffer Shawn Misko had a close relationship with Eric Ciaramella while at the National Security Council together,” Paul’s question read. “And are you aware and how do you respond to reports that Ciaramella and Misko may have worked together to plot impeaching the president before there were formal House impeachment proceedings.”

Ciaramella, a CIA analyst, is widely believed to be the ‘whistleblower’ who kickstarted the impeachment inquiry by alleging that Trump tried to strong-arm Zelensky into reopening a corruption investigation into Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, and his business activities in Ukraine.

According to a recent RealClearPolitics report, Ciaramella was reportedly overheard in 2017 “plotting” with Misko to have Trump “removed from office.”

Schiff, the lead prosecutor in the impeachment trial, has both denied knowing the identity of the whistleblower and called the report of Ciaramella’s plot a “conspiracy theory.” Schiff has also repeatedly warned Republicans against naming the whistleblower, citing a need to protect his or her identity – though no statutory requirement for that actually exists.

However, Roberts’ refusal to read Ciaramella’s name and the media furor that followed Paul’s question – with mostly liberal pundits hounding the senator for “naming the whistleblower”  –  all but confirms that he is indeed Schiff’s source. Paul never mentioned the term “whistleblower” in his written question, yet Roberts still refused to read Ciaramella’s name. Earlier, Roberts had vowed not to read any question that might “out” the whistleblower.

Roberts was not compelled to censor Paul’s question by law. Rather, his decision was a personal one. Contrary to Schiff, the whistleblower does not enjoy a “statutory right to anonymity.” If Ciaramella is indeed the whistleblower, his only guarantee is that the intelligence community inspector-general may not name him as such.

Senators will likely vote on Friday on whether to allow testimony from additional witnesses, beyond those heard during the inquiry led by House Democrats. While Democrats have pushed for testimony from former National Security Advisor John Bolton, some Republicans have argued that if they even agree to witnesses, they intend to call on the whistleblower, conclusively revealing their identity and giving Trump his constitutional right to confront his accuser.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has made clear that he will move to block any additional witnesses from testifying, bringing the trial to a speedy conclusion and acquittal as soon as possible.

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First two cases of coronavirus confirmed in Russia, both Chinese citizens

CAP

By Bryan MacDonald

Russia has registered its first patients diagnosed with the new Chinese coronavirus, Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova has confirmed. The alarming news comes just a day after Moscow closed its Far Eastern border with China.

Golikova told reporters that the two sufferers are Chinese citizens, one in the Far Eastern Zabaikalsky Region, and the other in the Tyumen Region in western Siberia – which are separated by a distance of about 4,000km.

The patients in question have been subjected to “strict monitoring.” They have been put into quarantine and are receiving medical care. The head of Rospotrebnadzor (a state watchdog), Anna Popova, believes there is no immediate risk of the further spread of the coronavirus in Russia.

As a precautionary measure, Moscow will commence the evacuation of around 300 of its citizens from the virus-hit city of Wuhan, and another 341 from the surrounding area. Some 2,600 Russians holidaying on the island of Hainan will also be brought back home, the deputy prime minister announced.

Russia’s Ministry of Health names three drugs that can treat new Chinese coronavirus

CAP

To prevent the spread of the virus, Moscow is suspending most flights to and from China. The exceptions are Aeroflot routes to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong, as well as Chinese airlines arriving at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport. They will be restricted to Terminal F.

In a further move, Russian citizens will be prohibited from crossing the border with Mongolia.

So far, there have been 213 recorded deaths from the new coronavirus, and more than 9,800 reported infections. The vast majority took place in China but about a hundred cases have been registered in another 20 countries. Now, Russia has become the 21st. On Thursday, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a global health emergency.

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CORONAVIRUS MODEL PREDICTS 183 MILLION INFECTIONS BEFORE THE END OF FEBRUARY

Coronavirus Model Predicts 183 Million Infections Before the End of February

If infection rate follows current trend and virus isn’t contained.

 | Infowars.com – JANUARY 30, 2020

A model that predicts the number of coronavirus infections that will occur if the outbreak isn’t contained shows that based on current projections, there will be over 183 million infections before the end of February.

The chart, produced by data firm Bianco Research, shows that if the current rate of infections remains consistent, 183,943,221 people will have been infected by the virus within the next three weeks.

Given that the virus has already infected a minimum of 7,711 people and killed 170 (a fatality percentage of just over 2per cent), if 183 million people were infected, statistically upwards of 3.6 million would die.

CAP

Given how horrific these numbers are, one can only hope that health authorities can get the outbreak under control before it gets anywhere near that level.

“To be absolutely clear, this is NOT a prediction that 100 million people will be infected by Feb 20,” explains Bianco Research. “Rather, this has been its growth rate for the last 12 days. A vaccine, mutation or successful quarantine/isolation could help reduce this growth rate.”

The firm also warns that if the outbreak turns into a global pandemic, it could have huge economic consequences and that “the global supply chain will grind to a halt.”

A further 44,000 are under quarantine and are suspected but not confirmed of having the virus, so the numbers could be even higher.

CAP

“The China Health Commission also gives us the number under quarantine” commented Jim Bianco. “This is those with flu symptoms isolated and monitored. It is up 10x to 44K in the last five days. This is the inventory that will feed the continued geometric of infection rates.”

As we reported earlier, Senator Tom Cotton is calling for an immediate shut down of all flights from China to the U.S. after Israel banned flights and Russia closed the entirety of its 2,600-mile border with China.

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Rand Paul Reveals Impeachment Question Censored by Chief Justice John Roberts

(INSET: Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts) Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) departs after speaking to the media about the "whistleblower" question blocked by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts during the impeachment trial proceedings of US President Donald Trump on Capitol Hill January 30, 2020, in Washington, DC. - The …

By MATTHEW BOYLE

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) opened Thursday’s impeachment trial proceedings with one of the first submitted questions for the record, but Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts refused to read the question to the Democrat impeachment managers and President Donald Trump’s counsel.

The text of the question to Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Trump’s counsel, as Paul submitted it to Roberts, was subsequently obtained by Breitbart News. The text of Sen. Paul’s Thursday question exactly as submitted to Roberts, the senator’s office confirmed to Breitbart News, was:

To the Manager Schiff and counsel for the President:

Manager Schiff and Counsel for the President, are you aware that House Intelligence Committee staffer Shawn Misko had a close relationship with Eric Ciaramella when at the National Security Council together, and are you aware and how do you respond to reports that Ciaramella and Misko may have worked together to plot impeaching the President before there were formal House impeachment proceedings?”

In the question, Paul does not identify Eric Ciaramella, a CIA analyst who has been widely reported to be the “whistleblower” whose complaint launched the Democrats’ impeachment proceedings, as the “whistleblower.”

But Roberts has now multiple times throughout the trial censored any mention of Ciaramella’s name, despite his direct involvement in these matters.

Paul also tweeted this after the fact:

CAP

Recent investigative reports from RealClearPolitics have indicated that Misko, now a Schiff staffer on the House Intelligence Committee, and Ciaramella have a close relationship and were overheard discussing efforts to try to plot against President Trump.

Roberts has not offered any legal argument for hiding the individual’s identity. As Breitbart News has repeatedly explained, the only statutory protection for people who submit whistleblower complaints is that the intelligence community inspector general (ICIG) cannot name him or her publicly:

Even left-wing mainstream media outlets—CNN, the New York Times, National Public Radio (NPR), and Reuters — determined that, certainly, no law prohibits President Donald Trump or members of Congress from disclosing the name of the leaker who sparked the impeachment inquiry.

Even Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) confirmed this fact by reading a passage from the Washington Post into the record of the House impeachment hearings which states: “That appears to be the lone statutory restriction on disclosing a whistleblower’s identity, applicable only to the inspector general’s office. We found no court rulings on whether whistleblowers have a right to anonymity under the ICWPA or related statutes.”

Further, Breitbart’s Senior Editor-at-Large Joel Pollak has written President Trump has a right under the Sixth Amendment to confront his accuser at a trial where he is the defendant. He explains: “even if the Chief Justice were to rule that it does not, the Senate can overrule him. If the president wants to call the whistleblower to testify, he will likely have to do so.”

In October, RealClearInvestigations published an individual’s name whom author Paul Sperry believes is likely the “whistleblower” — Eric Ciaramella, an analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), who worked for the National Security Council under the Obama and Trump administrations.

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First US person-to-person case of coronavirus reported in Chicago. ‘We believe people in Illinois are at low risk.’

CAP

By 

The first U.S. case of the coronavirus spreading from one person to another was reported in Chicago on Thursday, the husband of a woman who caught the disease while in China.

It’s the second case that’s been confirmed in Illinois, and the sixth case in the U.S., since the respiratory virus first started to spread in Wuhan, China.

A Chicago woman who returned from caring for her sick father in China earlier this month was the first local person diagnosed with the illness, health officials reported Friday. The woman, who is in her 60s, traveled to Wuhan, China, in late December and returned to Chicago on Jan. 13. Her spouse, who had not traveled to China, is the second Illinois case and first instance of person-to-person spread in the U.S., the Illinois Department of Public Health said.

Health officials said the man has not attended any mass gatherings or taken the “L” train recently, and is currently sharing details of his activities from the last several weeks. Officials declined to say how many people they’re monitoring for illness who’ve been in contact with the couple but said they are “actively monitoring all close contacts.” The CDC considers close contact to consist of 10 minutes or more of face-to-face contact with a person.

In all, health officials are investigating 21 possible cases of the virus in Illinois.

Shortly after the announcement of the second Chicago case, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a public health emergency.

Despite the news Thursday, the director of the Illinois Department of Public Health Dr. Ngozi Ezike said, “We believe people in Illinois are at low risk.”

“This person to person spread was between two very close contacts, a husband and wife,” Ezike said at a news conference. “The virus is not spreading across the community at this time.”

What is coronavirus and what precautions should people in the Chicago area be taking? »

Coronaviruses are often spread through close personal contact, said Dr. Allison Arwady, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health.

“We know this new patient had close contact with his wife after she began to develop symptoms so it’s not unexpected,” Arwandy said.

DuPage County public health officials said Tuesday they are tracking multiple county residents who may have come in contact with the woman, but none had reported symptoms. The couple lives in Chicago but may have come into contact with people in DuPage County, said Don Bolger, a spokesman for the DuPage County Health Department.

 

There have been 7,818 cases reported worldwide, mostly in China, and 170 deaths from the illness in China, according to the World Health Organization.

On Wednesday, the U.S. government evacuated 195 Americans from Wuhan. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has also advised Americans to avoid all nonessential travel to China.

 

Symptoms of the virus can include fever, cough and shortness of breath. It’s believed symptoms appear anywhere from two to 14 days after exposure. The CDC has said it’s still unclear how easily the virus spreads from person to person.

Local health officials say it’s not necessary for Chicagoans to stay home or cancel activities amid the news.

More to come.

 

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BRITISH AIRWAYS ENDS ALL FLIGHTS TO CHINA AS VIRUS SPREADS TO MIDDLE EAST

British Airways Ends All Flights To China As Virus Spreads To Middle East

The decision comes after United Airlines said it would temporarily reduce the number of flights between the US and China

Zero Hedge – JANUARY 29, 2020

As the Trump Administration denies plans to shut down all passenger air traffic to China, more airlines around the world are suspending routes, a sign that the coronavirus outbreak could do permanent damage to the industry.

Just hours after the UK Foreign Office warned Britons against traveling to China, British Airways, Britain’s flag carrier, and its second-largest airline in the UK, suspended all flights to China.

British Airways operates direct flights from Heathrow to Beijing and Shanghai, but right now, passengers can’t book flights on those lines until Feb. 29. CNN called it “the most drastic action yet by a major airline” in response to the crisis.

The decision comes after United Airlines said it would temporarily reduce the number of flights between the US and China.

“We have suspended all flights to and from mainland China with immediate effect following advice from the Foreign Office against all but essential travel,” the company said in a statement Wednesday.

This comes after United said Tuesday that it had seen a “significant decline in demand” and been forced it to suspend flights from Feb. 1 through Feb. 8 between its US hubs and Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai. In total, 24 round trips have been impacted between Hong Kong to San Francisco and Newark; Beijing to Dulles, O’Hare and Newark; and Shanghai to San Francisco, Newark and O’Hare.

American Airlines, Delta and United all extended change fee waivers through the end of February, while Hong Kong flagship carrier Cathay Pacific said it will reduce the capacity of flights to and from mainland China by half or more until the end of March.

Finland’s Finnair is canceling three weekly flights between Helsinki and Beijing between Feb. 5 and March 29, and two weekly flights between Helsinki and Nanjing between Feb. 8 and March 29, because of the suspension of group travel by Chinese authorities. It will continue to operate flights to Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Guangzhou.

There are now 5,974 cases in China, with 1,239 of whom are severely ill, according to state media on Wednesday. Initial theories, put forward by some infectious disease experts, that the mortality rate of the virus is much lower than reflected in press reports because thousands with mild cases are likely toughing it out in their homes. If anything, it looks like the virus is more lethal than we previously believed.

And it’s certainly more infectious.

Per the SCMP, a 48-hour span of no new nCoV infections came to an end Wednesday when Hong Kong authorities announced two more patients tested positive for the potentially deadly illness, bringing the local total to 10, as the HK government suspends high-speed rail travel between the Special Administrative Region and the mainland. The HK Department of Health said the two new patients, an elderly couple, aged 72 and 73, tested positive at Queen Mary Hospital in Pok Fu Lam, and, because of their age, fall into the high-risk category of infections. More than 100 people are still in isolation in HK.

CAP

The situation is growing increasingly worrisome in Guangdong province, which is centered around the city of Guangzhou, the fifth-largest in China.

Guangzhou is at the center of a massive conurbation stretching out all the way to Shenzen, and to the other neighboring cities of Foshan, Dongguan, Zhongshan and several other neighboring provinces. This agglomeration is one of the largest of its kind on Earth, home to more than 100 million. City officials announced five new infections, two locals and three foreigners. With more than 270 confirmed cases, this well-connected and economically important province is behind only Hubei and Zhejiang in terms of number of cases.

Now that several countries have copies of the coronavirus genome, the race for a workable vaccine is intensifying. Russia joined that race on Wednesday after receiving a copy of the virus genome from China, Russian state media reported on Wednesday. The US said on Tuesday that it would take three months to start initial trials for a vaccine that it’s developing, and three further months to gather data.

In Hong Kong, infectious diseases expert Professor Yuen Kwok-yung said on Tuesday that the city’s researchers had stumbled on a vaccine, but that it would take months to test on animals and at least another year to conduct trials on humans before it could be confirmed ready for human use. Scientists in Melbourne said they grew the virus from a patient sample, which could prove a “game-changer” in combating the outbreak. It was the first time the virus had been grown in a cell culture outside China (here’s hoping it isn’t misused as a potential bioweapon).

After confirming the first case of human-to-human transmission in Japan, health officials in Tokyo have shared more information about the case with the press: The man did not travel to Wuhan but drove buses with tour groups from the city twice this month. The man is in his 60s and lives in Nara Prefecture, according to the Japan Times.

Overnight, the first case of the virus in the Middle East have been confirmed in the United Arab Emirates, according to the country’s Ministry of Health and Community Protection. The 4 infected patients are members of a family that had traveled from Wuhan. In its statement, the health ministry reported the family as being in a stable condition under medical observation, according to CNBC.

As hysteria surrounding the outbreak grows, SCMP reports that resentment toward people from Wuhan is growing across China, as provincial authorities ramp up screenings of those from Wuhan, and citizens build unauthorized roadblocks to keep strangers out of their towns.

Meanwhile, President Xi said Wednesday that “preventing and containing the virus remains a severe and complex task,” a follow up to his claims that China would do whatever is necessary to contain the “demon” virus.

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