State Department Has No Record of Clinton IT Security Training

The State Department has no record of former Secretary Hillary Clinton or her two top aides receiving IT security training while Clinton led the department, the Washington Free Beacon has learned.

In response to a Freedom of Information request filed by the nonprofit Competitive Enterprise Institute in March, State said it could not locate any record of Clinton, chief of staff Cheryl Mills, or deputy chief of staff Huma Abedin undergoing any sort of IT security training.

“One former, senior executive branch personnel official contacted me to point out the requirement that appointees take this training, and that if Mses. Clinton, Abedin or Mills had deigned to follow the law, a record of this would exist,” explained CEI senior fellow Chris Horner, who filed the FOIA request.

“He also noted, however, that if anyone was to turn up their noses and refuse the training—and be permitted to—these are the folks.  We now know this to be the case,” Horner said in an email.

The request also asked for “all separation documents … completed or submitted” by Clinton, Mills, or Abedin. State returned no responsive documents to that request.

The department previously stated that it had no record of Clinton signing such separation documents, designed to ensure that former employees do not retain confidential information after their departure. State’s reply appears to confirm that neither Clinton nor her top aides submitted those documents.

Cybersecurity experts say Clinton, Mills, and Abedin should have undergone IT security training at State, and that their apparent failure to do so is part of a systemic problem.

“She should have done it, but the data point that she did not is sadly unsurprising,” said Steve Bucci, the director of the Heritage Foundation’s Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign and National Security Policy.

Via: WFB

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WHISTLEBLOWER: Senior State Department Officials Under Hillary Clinton Quashed Investigations into Alleged Misconduct

AP

The Washington Examiner has followed up on a previous report exposing the Clinton State Department’s efforts to cover up alleged misconduct with new details about some of the “most egregious” examples of investigations thwarted by agency staff, and the frustration felt by investigators:

The eight cases mentioned in the memo included an incident in which at least five members of Clinton’s security detail allegedly solicited prostitutes in a number of countries while on official travel, including on trips to Russia and Colombia. A diplomatic security guard was permitted to continue overseeing Clinton’s security operations at a Moscow hotel after allegedly soliciting prostitutes “despite obvious counterintelligence questions,” the memo said.

A top official in the bureau of diplomatic security “reportedly told [an investigator] to shut down the four investigations” into the accused security guards, three of whom received one-day suspensions before being transferred to other assignments.

Another case involved a regional security officer in Lebanon who was alleged to have sexually assaulted local embassy staff, and who had a “long history of misconduct allegations” at his other posting in North Africa and the Middle East. Officials looking into the matter were given just three days to investigate, after a State Department official described the inquiry as a “witch hunt.” An inspector general’s report published in 2014 noted that investigators “encountered resistance” from senior State Department officials, who exhibited “undue influence and favoritism” in the case.

Perhaps the most egregious of the episodes involved “an ambassador in Belgium” who in May 2011 was accused of “ditch[ing] his protective security detail in order to solicit sexual favors from both prostitutes and minor children,” according to an inspector general’s memo. A subsequent review found

a number of flaws in the subsequent probe of the Belgian ambassador.

“[Diplomatic security] assigned an agent from its internal investigations unit to conduct a preliminary inquiry. However, two days later, the agent was directed to stop further inquiry because of a decision by senior department officials to treat the matter as a ‘management issue,’” the Linick report said.

“The ambassador was recalled to Washington and, in June 2011, met with the undersecretary of state for management and the then chief of staff and counselor to the secretary of state. At the meeting, the ambassador denied the allegations and was then permitted to return to post,” the report continued. “The department took no further action affecting the ambassador.”

Patrick Kennedy, the State Department’s undersecretary for management, told the inspector general’s office that he declined to pursue the Belgian matter further because “solicitation of a prostitute … was not a crime in the host country.”

Before becoming Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton successfully defended a child rapist she (most likely) believed to be guilty.

Via: WFB

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State Department ignores lawsuit over records linking Boko Haram and Clinton Foundation

Abubakar Shekau, centre, the leader of Boko Haram, Nigeria's Islamic extremist group. Boko Haram fighters have shot or burned to death about 90 civilians and wounded 500 in ongoing fighting in a Cameroonian border town near Nigeria, officials in Cameroon said. (AP Photo/Boko Haram

)A conservative group is suing the State Department in an effort to find out whether the agency's refusal to place Boko Haram on the terrorist watch list while Hillary Clinton was secretary of state had anything to do with the fact that a high-level Nigerian official was a major Clinton Foundation donor and close friend of the former president.

Citizens United, a conservative nonprofit, brought the case to court after the State Department ignored its request for records about the Chagoury Group, a sprawling Nigerian company headed by a Clinton friend and financial supporter of Clinton causes, Gilbert Chagoury.

Chagoury donated between $1 million and 5 million to the Clinton Foundation, donor recordsshow.

More than 30 days have passed since Citizens United first filed the lawsuit without a response of any kind from the State Department.

David Bossie, president of Citizens United, said it was the first time he'd seen the State Department completely ignore a case against it in federal court.

"These proceedings are important that both sides take them seriously," Bossie said. "I have no idea what the judge will do, but I believe the judge will order a hearing to find out why the government did not respond."

"Federal judges, I don't think, look kindly on people who ignore the court's workings," he added.

In January 2010, Chagoury was removed from a private jet and questioned by federal agents for hours because his name had been added to the no-fly list, according to the Center for Public Integrity.

Although he was removed from the list before the U.S. government issued a formal, written apology, it is still unclear why he received that designation in the first place and how he was able to get his name off the no-fly list.

Sen. David Vitter, R-La., wrote a letter to Kerry in March raising concerns that Chagoury may haveattempted to influence Clinton's decision about whether to designate Boko Haram as a terrorist group.

Via: Washington Examiner

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The U.S. State Department’s ‘Become-Liars-Like-Us School-of-Journalism’

The country infamous for its running dog-mainstream media cheering anything Obama in a cacophony of barks,  including the “fundamental transformation” of their own country,  is now branching out through its State Department to the world.

Bureaucrats of the U.S. State Department, who have already taken it upon themselves to teach “ethics” to the “up and coming journalists” of India, are going to “embed” up-and-coming Russian journalists in American newsrooms. Having gained control of the mainstream media on home turf,  why not try for world media control?

“The U.S. State Department is looking to design and facilitate a media ethics course for journalists in India, and has even proposed appropriating the name of Robin Thicke’s 2013 hit “Blurred Lines” as a title for the course. (Weekly Standard, April 20, 2015)

“The U.S. consulate general in Hyderabad, India, is looking for a non-profit to co-develop the course to help Indian journalists gain a “baseline understanding of the international industry standards,” including “accuracy, honesty, transparency, impartiality, and accountability,” and is willing to spend $20,000 - $25,000 on it.

“The grant documents note that credibility is a key part of journalists’ jobs to “keep their readership informed, hold us all accountable, filter fact from fiction, and unmask false narratives masquerading as truth.” To that end, the State Department would like a full-time faculty member to propose curriculum content and develop a syllabus tailored to communicate journalistic standards to an Indian university audience. Additionally, the grant calls for a “U.S.-based, university-level journalism professor,” suggested by the non-profit subject to approval by the State Department, to act as consultant in the development of the course.

“Once the course preparation is complete, the journalism professor will visit India at least three times: to meet with the coordinating university in India and “observe existing on-the-job training in various media houses,” to conduct a three day seminar for other stakeholders, and to participate in first offering of the newly-designed course. The grant specifies that both the accommodations for the professor and the venue for the seminar must be a four-star hotel.”

Via: Canada Free Press

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Bill Clinton Was Paid $400K By Singapore Company That Was Scamming Its Employees

The Internet was littered with scam warnings from small-time contractors who claimed they had been ripped off by Singapore-based UNI Strategic, but that didn’t seem to bother the State Department or Bill Clinton.

The agency, headed at the time by Hillary Clinton, signed off on a Nov. 14, 2010, speech delivered by the former president on behalf of UNI at the Presidential World Economic Forum held in Taipei, Taiwan.

The payday: $400,000.

Clinton’s speech was not remarkable, but it probably didn’t have to be. He spoke about the global economy, economic inequality and global warming in front of an audience of around 2,000 — eager to hear from an American politician of Clinton’s stature.

But while UNI could afford to pay Clinton a one-percenter’s annual salary, the company was ripping off a slew of contractors it had hired to provide training in various Asian nations.

Internet message boards, scam alert websites and independent blogs show up at the top of searches for UNI, which was founded in 2002 and specializes in workshops for governmental organizations and multinational corporations on a variety of topics.

It is unclear if UNI’s dastardly deeds were as well-known in 2010, but complaints stretch back to well before Clinton’s speech, and would seemingly have been easy to discover by anyone who cared to look.

Via: Daily Caller

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Feds Spend $150K to 'Embed' Russian Journalists in U.S. Newsrooms

Even as diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Russia remain decidedly chilly over the Ukrainian conflict, the State Department is reaching out to "up-and-coming" Russian journalists. A recent $150,000 grant offering from the U.S. embassy in Moscow seeks to establish a program to give Russian journalists an "intensive professional exchange experience in American newsrooms," plus "cultural experiences that allow them to learn more about the United States in general."

Although the program is tentatively named the "Russian Journalist Exchange Program," it involves only the placement of Russian journalists in American newsrooms and not vice versa. Although the State Department wishes to focus on relatively new journalists who are "showing promise" in their careers, grant recipients are reminded that "[e]very effort should be made to attract a large and diverse participant pool, including persons with disabilities, minorities, a balanced mix of male and female participants, etc." Grant recipients will carry out recruitment, but the U.S. embassy in Moscow reserves the right of final approval of all participants, as well as approval of the U.S. newsrooms where the visiting journalists will be working.

In addition to being "embedded" for a minimum a two-weeks in "reputable American newsrooms," participants are to be housed with American families to enhance their cultural experiences. While the Russians are expected to "work alongside American reporters" and interact with host families to get "a first-hand view of American family life with all its diversity," the State Department doesn't want the visitors to get too comfortable. Grant recipients are reminded they are not only responsible for arranging an American work, cultural, and family-life experience for the journalists, but also for "ensuring their return to Russia." All participating journalists must "[c]ommit to returning to Russian Federation after completion of the program."

However, the State Department has plans for a continuing relationship with the Russian journalists who participate in the program. One of the elements required of grant recipients is to "plan for post-program participant engagement that includes an outline of any proposed follow-on activities or initiatives and an articulated plan for utilizing Department of State and other alumni tools and social media outlets to provide continued support to program alumni." [emphasis added] A post-program evaluation is also desired using a now-familiar State Department metric: "The more that outcomes are “SMART” (specific, measurable, attainable, results-oriented, and placed in a reasonable timeframe, the easier it will be to conduct the evaluation."

Development of the program, recruitment of participants (both Russian journalists and American news organizations), and selection of host families is expected to take until March 2016. The actual exchange experiences are then to take place from March through August 2016.

Via: The Weekly Standard

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House Committee Drops Funding for State Department Climate-Change Programs

With Secretary of State John Kerry at the helm, the Obama administration is promoting efforts to produce a new global climate treaty at a U.N. climate conference in Paris late this year. (AP Photo, File)

(CNSNews.com) – Just months before the most important U.N. climate conference in years, Republican appropriators in the House of Representatives are taking aim at one of the Obama administration’s most cherished priorities – international climate change funding.

An appropriations bill for the State Department and foreign operations, released Tuesday, excludes funding for three major climate initiatives – the Green Climate Fund, the Clean Technology Fund, and the Strategic Climate Fund – and also removes funding for the U.N.-backed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Also in the firing line is funding for the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and debt relief.

The bill eliminates funding for these “lower-priority international programs,” the House Appropriations Committee said in a statement, in order to meet what it views as top priorities – including “funding for security activities around the world,” support for key allies, and increased funding “for embassy and diplomatic security to address new needs identified after the Benghazi terrorist attack.”

“This legislation is first and foremost a national security bill,” said Rep Kay Granger (R-Texas), chairwoman of the Appropriations subcommittee on State and foreign operations.

Appropriations Committee chairman Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) said it provides funding for “critical endeavors – bolstering the fight against terror, strengthening our allies, helping innocent lives facing conflict and strife, and protecting our democracy, our people, and our way of life.”

In doing so, the drafters decided climate change programs did not merit funding.

The Green Climate Fund, launched in 2011, is designed to help developing countries curb “greenhouse gas” emissions and cope with occurrences attributed to climate change, such as rising sea levels.

With the aim of reaching $100 billion a year from public and private sources by 2020, it is one of the most ambitious elements of the global climate campaign.

President Obama last November pledged $3 billion for the GCF, a promise touted by Secretary of State John Kerry at subsequent U.N. climate talks, even as Republican lawmakers slammed the move.

The U.S. pledge is by far the largest announced contribution to date for the fund, which now has pledges totaling some $10.2 billion, from 33 countries.

In its fiscal year 2016 budget request, the administration asked for $500 million – $350 million for the State Department and $150 million for the Treasury Department – as a first step towards meeting that $3 billion objective.

Via: CNS News

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Kerry's Broken Leg Comes as Iran Talks Heat Up

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry cut short a trip to Europe to return home to Boston after breaking his right thigh bone in a bicycling accident Sunday in eastern France.

The accident came as the U.S. -- led by Kerry -- five other world powers and Iran have resumed efforts to reach a nuclear accord before a June 30 deadline. It is unclear whether the accident will affect those talks. The accord would curb Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for an easing of economic sanctions.

The top U.S. diplomat met with his Iranian counterpart, Javed Zarif, for about six hours in Geneva on Saturday. The pair’s next meeting was expected to be in about two weeks, which would give Kerry some time to recovery from his injury. Technical experts will hold meetings in the meantime, starting in Vienna within a few days.

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Kerry fell from his bike, apparently after hitting a curb along the roadside near the town of Scionzier, a State Department official said on condition of not being further identified. Kerry, 71, was transported about 40 kilometers (25 miles) by medical helicopter to University Hospital in Geneva, where his injury was evaluated.

“Given the injury is near the site of his prior hip surgery, he will return to Boston today to seek treatment at Massachusetts General Hospital with his doctor who did the prior surgery,” John Kirby, a State Department spokesman, said in a statement. “The secretary is stable and never lost consciousness, his injury is not life-threatening, and he is expected to make a full recovery.”
Thigh Bone

Kirby confirmed that Kerry broke his “right femur.” The bone is commonly referred to as a thigh bone.

Via: Newsmax

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Fiorina: US In ‘Grave Danger’ Thanks To Hillary’s State Dept Tenure

Carly Fiorina panned Hillary Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state, saying on “Fox News Sunday” the U.S. is in “grave danger” thanks to Clinton.

Fiorina argued to host Chris Wallace that many questions need to be asked of Clinton, especially about her “leadership” at the State Department.

“I come from a world where titles are just titles and talk is just talk. The questions I’m raising about Hillary Clinton, I take no delight in them,” Fiorina told Wallace. “I‘m concerned.”

“It is entirely legitimate when someone is running for the presidency of the United States to ask whether they are being transparent, whether they are trustworthy, whether they have a track record of leadership,” the former Hewlett-Packard CEO said. “Hillary Clinton has demonstrated over and over again that she is not transparent.”

“Her leadership as secretary of state has placed us in grave danger around the world,” Fiorina said. “These are entirely legitimate questions and questions I would ask of her on the general debate stage. Questions that must be asked of her because the American people need to hear her answers.”

Via: Daily Caller

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Days After Obama Admin Asked Networks to Not Show ‘Inaccurate’ B-Roll of its Advances, Islamic State Seized Two Cities

Merely days after reports of the Obama administration asking networks to stop airing “inaccurate” B-roll of the Islamic State because it portrayed them advancing in Iraq and Syria, the terrorist group took down the cities of Ramadi in Iraq and Palmyra in Syria.

Islamic State took the occasion to film more propaganda footage of itself marching through the empty cities, with horrific images of its enemies’ corpses and destroyed buildings in its wake.

The Fox News talk show OutNumbered discussed Politico‘s report on the U.S. government’s efforts to quash what it deemed misleading footage May 15, and three days later, the fall of Ramadi, capital of the Anbar Province, was one of the lead stories on every network broadcast.

Politico reported May 13:

Senior State Department and Pentagon officials have begun contacting television network reporters to ask them to stop using “B-roll” — stock footage that appears on screen while reporters and commentators talk — showing ISIL at the peak of its strength last summer.

“We are urging broadcasters to avoid using the familiar B-roll that we’ve all seen before, file footage of ISIL convoys operating in broad daylight, moving in large formations with guns out, looking to wreak havoc,” said Emily Horne, spokeswoman for retired Gen. John Allen, the State Department’s special envoy leading the international coalition against ISIL.

“It’s inaccurate — that’s no longer how ISIL moves,” Horne said. “A lot of that footage is from last summer before we began tactical strikes.”

Via: WFB

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[VIDEO] Harf highlight reel: State Dept. spokeswoman leaving post

From suggesting combating ISIS with jobs to dismissing questions about Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl's conduct as "rumor," spokeswoman Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has woven a rich tapestry as the voice of the State Department. 

But she's moving on. 

The department announced late Tuesday that starting June 1, Harf will be moving out of the briefing room and beginning a "new role" as senior adviser for strategic communications to Secretary of State John Kerry. (Ex-Pentagon spokesman John Kirby has already assumed the role of spokesman, while former deputy spokesman Mark Toner is moving into his old job.) 

Here's a look back at some of Harf's more memorable moments: 

June 3, 2014: In response to questioning by Fox News at the briefing, Harf downplayed criticism of the recently announced trade of five Taliban fighters for Bergdahl. 

She downplayed "conflicting reports" and "rumor" when asked about accounts from Bergdahl's platoon-mates that he walked off base.   

"There's a lot of rumor and telephone game that's being played here," she said. 

After continued questioning, she said: "It happened five years ago." 

Bergdahl would later be charged with desertion. Former commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan Gen. Stanley McChrystal also told Fox News this week it was his initial understanding as well that Bergdahl walked off his base before he disappeared. 

Via: Fox News

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Kerry: Ben Franklin Could Not Be Confirmed to Office If He Lived Today

MORE DELUSIONAL TALK FROM THE WAR TRAITOR!!!

(CNSNews.com) - At a reception at the State Department that marked the U.S. taking over the chairmanship of the Arctic Council, Secretary of State John Kerry said that if Benjamin Franklin lived today and was nominated for office he would never be confirmed.

“Franklin, actually, was raised partly by an aunt on Nantucket,” said Kerry. “He became the first person to publish, as a result of his findings, a chart of what he called ‘a river in the ocean,’ which, of course, we know as the Gulf Stream. So it’s a powerful current that affects all of our climate, including the conditions in the Arctic itself. So without knowing it--he didn’t talk about it, but he did something about it.

“And there is, of course, a second connection between Franklin and this reception,” Kerry said. “And that is that he liked to have a really good time, folks. And he didn’t spare the booze, and while he was in Paris he led a life that clearly meant that had he lived today and been nominated, he would never have been confirmed for office. (Laughter.) Anyway, it just goes to show how the times change.”

The Arctic Council is an intergovernmental forum for the eight countries that have territory in the Arctic—the United States, Russia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. The U.S. assumed chairmanship of the council in April.

VIA: CNS News

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State Dept. Makes Curious Redaction in Hillary Email

Among the emails released by the State Department today was one sent by Hillary Clinton to Jake Sullivan on April 8, 2011. Clinton was forwarding a private intelligence report that Sidney Blumenthal had sent her with the subject line: "UK game playing; new rebel strategists; Egypt moves in."

In the State Department release today, Clinton responds with "FYI" and a sentence that is redacted. 

But the New York Times posted its versions of the emails earlier this week and the sentence is not redacted. In theTimes's version the redacted sentence reads: "FYI. The idea of using private security experts to arm the opposition should be considered." 

The redaction in the State Department version is labeled a "B5" Freedom of Information Act exception, which provides for a "deliberative privilege" in keeping the information from the public.

The obvious question: Why did the State Department redact that sentence?

Via: Weekly Standard

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SHOCK EMAIL: Hillary Clinton Did Not Even Know Dead Ambassador’s Name

Emails released by the Obama State Department Friday reveal that Hillary Clinton did not know the name of the Ambassador to Libya.

Ambassador Chris Stevens was murdered in a terrorist strike on the US Consulate in Benghazi on September 11, 2012.

The Obama administration knew at the time that it was a planned terrorist attack but decided to lie to the American public to save face and win an election.

Hillary Clinton sent out an email that night and did not know the name of the deceased Ambassador to Libya.

Chris Stevens was killed that night by terrorists – not Chris Smith.
The Washington Times reported:

The night a U.S. ambassador was killed in a terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, Hillary Clinton sent a message three senior State Department officials.

The recepients were Jake Sullivan, Deputy Chief of Staff to then-Secretary of State Clinton, Cheryl Mills, an adviser to Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign and Counselor and Chief of Staff to the Secretary, and Victoria Jane Nuland, Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs.

“Cheryl told me the Libyans confirmed his death. Should we announce tonight or wait until morning?” Clinton says in the email, time stamped 11:38 p.m. on Sept. 11, 2012.

The email had as its subject line: “Chris Smith.” The murdered ambassador was Chris Stevens.

The Secretary of State didn’t even know the name of the U.S. ambassador to Libya — even after terrorists stormed an American compound and killed him.

Via: The Gateway Pundit

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State Dept. Releases Hillary’s Benghazi Emails, Site Quickly Crashes

The State Department today released Hillary Clinton‘s Benghazi emails, and the website they posted them to very quickly crashed.

Earlier this week the department said they’d be releasing a full report on Clinton’s emails in time, with a planned release date in January 2016. A federal judge rejected that and ordered a “rolling release” of the emails instead.

They released roughly 300 emails today, reportedly including all of Clinton’s Benghazi-related emails, tweeting this out beforehand:

 

Department of StateVerified account‏@StateDept

The emails we release today do not change the essential facts or our understanding of the events before, during, or after the attacks.

• RETWEETS108
• FAVORITES52
• 

9:06 AM - 22 May 2015

Via: Mediaite

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