May 23, 2017


News and Views


EVERY TIME ONE OF THESE MINDLESS TIME BOMB KILLERS GOES ON A RAMPAGE, THE SUFFERING IS TERRIBLE. IN THIS CASE SEVERAL OF THE SLAIN PEOPLE WERE VERY YOUNG, AND ALL WERE THERE TO ENJOY SOME MUSIC. STILL, WE MUSTN’T TURN OUR CITIES OVER TO THE DARK SIDE SO THAT WE BECOME A POLICE STATE, WHICH I FEAR WE ARE RAPIDLY APPROACHING. I WANT TO SEE MORE RATHER THAN LESS SUCCESSFUL SIMPLE SURVEILLANCE, THOUGH. THE USE OF STREET CAMERAS THAT WERE PUT UP IN SOME PLACES – MAYBE LONDON OR NYC – HAD SOME SUCCESS, I THINK, AND I HAVE HEARD NOTHING SO FAR ABOUT INNOCENT CITIZENS BEING DRAGGED INTO PROBLEMS WITH "THE FEDS". COMPUTERS CAN NOW RECOGNIZE FACES IN A CROWD, EVEN IN THOSE FUZZY SHOTS THAT I CAN BARELY MAKE OUT AS HUMAN, MUCH LESS PICK OUT THE FEATURES.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/theresa-may-statement-on-manchester-terror-attack-level/
CBS NEWS May 23, 2017, 5:11 PM
British prime minister: Terror threat level raised to "critical" after Manchester attack

British Prime Minister Theresa May announced Tuesday that the terror threat level in the U.K. has been raised from severe to critical, the highest level.

The announcement follows the deadly terror attack Monday at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester that killed at least 22 people and wounded at least 59 others.

May said this means a further attack is "imminent" and additional resources and support will be available to police in the fight against terrorism, including armed forces to help with police. It is still an active investigation around the arena.

Victims of Manchester attack: Eight-year-old girl among the dead
Manchester bomber identified: Latest in terror investigation

"As we mourn the victims of last night's attack, we stand defiant," May said. "The spirit of Manchester and the spirit of Britain is far mightier than the sick plots of terrorists -- and that is why the terrorist will never prevail."

As CBS News' Jonathan Vigliotti reports, this is the highest the threat level has been in the U.K. since 2007. The increase, according to Vigliotti, shows there is a concern about accomplices.

Play VIDEO
British prime minister announces UK terror threat level raised to critical

"The concern at this point is the unknown," Vigliotti reports.

After May's announcement, London Mayor Sadiq Khan issued a statement on Facebook saying, "London stands in solidarity with the people of Manchester."

"Our emergency services prepare day in, day out for these situations," Khan posted. "Our plans are well rehearsed and well prepared. I would urge all Londoners and visitors to remain calm and vigilant, and to report anything suspicious to the police."

British authorities identified Salman Abedi, 22, as the suicide bomber in the attack. CBS News confirmed Abedi was known to British authorities prior to the attack. An unnamed European security official told The Associated Press that Abedi was a Briton of Libyan descent. Salford University near Manchester's city center confirmed to CBS News that he was a second-year student at the school and was studying business and management.

In a generic statement posted online, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) claimed responsibility for the attack in Manchester.

Monday's attack was the deadliest in Europe since a series of coordinated attacks in Paris on Nov. 13, 2015 killed 130 people, including 89 people at a concert at the Bataclan. ISIS claimed responsibility for that attack.

35 Photos -- Manchester concert explosion

In the past two years, there have been a number of deadly attacks throughout Europe. In March, a driver mowed into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge before trying to break into Parliament with a gun. He killed four people before being shot and killed himself.



“KNOWN TO AUTHORITIES,” BUT NOT RESTRAINED AND MAYBE NOT EVEN BEING WATCHED IN HIS ACTIVITIES. I DON’T THINK THAT PEOPLE, SIMPLY BECAUSE THEY ARE MUSLIM OR ANY OTHER MINORITY GROUP, SHOULD BE ARRESTED OR HELD IN PRISON; BUT IF THERE EVER IS A TIME TO PUT A BUG UNDER THE HOOD OF THEIR CAR AND IN THEIR APARTMENT, OR WHATEVER MODERN TECHNIQUES ARE BEING USED, THIS IS THE TIME. IN THE ORLANDO MASSACRE AT THE GAY BAR, THE KILLER HAD “BEEN KNOWN TO POLICE,” AND QUESTIONED, BUT TURNED LOOSE SOME TWO OR THREE YEARS AGO AS BEING “NOT A THREAT.” POLICE MEAN WELL, BUT THEY AREN’T PSYCHIATRISTS. JUST AS THEY SHOULDN’T BE SHOOTING THEM IN MOST CASES, THEY SHOULDN’T LEAVE THEM ON THE STREETS EITHER. THAT ISN’T ALWAYS A POPULAR VIEW, BUT IT IS A PRACTICAL ONE. IF THEY DO SHOW SIGNS OF MENTAL ILLNESS, THEY SHOULD BE HOSPITALIZED AND PUT ON PSYCHIATRIC MEDS. I KNOW. WE DON’T HAVE ENOUGH MENTAL HOSPITALS EQUIPPED FOR THAT, BUT WE SHOULD BUILD THEM – RATHER THAN A BORDER WALL WITH MEXICO. A MENTAL PATIENT WHO IS REALLY IN A BAD WAY MOST LIKELY WILL NOT TAKE HIS MEDS AS HE SHOULD, SO THAT HIS SYMPTOMS COME BACK. YES, HE IS A YOUNG MUSLIM MAN BUT WHATEVER THE RELIGION, PEOPLE WHO DO THAT ARE USUALLY PSYCHOTIC, HEALTHY PEOPLE ARE AFRAID OF GETTING CAUGHT AT THE VERY LEAST. UNFORTUNATELY, WE HAVE NO WORD YET ON WHETHER OR NOT HE SHOWED OBVIOUS SIGNS OF SCHIZOPHRENIA OR OTHER SUCH ILLNESS. HOPEFULLY THAT WILL BE REPORTED SOON.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/manchester-attack-explosion-after-ariana-grande-concert-kills-eight-year-old-girl/
CBS NEWS May 23, 2017, 4:00 PM
Victims of Manchester attack: Eight-year-old girl among the dead

32 photographs

LONDON -- An eight-year-old girl has been confirmed dead after a suspected suicide attack on an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England. Saffie Rose Roussos was leaving the show Monday night with her mother and sister when an explosion went off, killing at least 22 people and injuring 59.

Pop star Ariana Grande has many young fans, and many of the concertgoers at Manchester Arena were children or teenagers.

Manchester concert explosion

Below is the information that has been made available on the victims of the terror attack, and those who are still missing.

Saffie Rose Roussos
ap-17143395528650.jpg

This undated photo obtained by the Press Association on Tuesday May 23, 2017 shows Saffie Rose Roussos, one of the victims of a attack at Manchester Arena. AP
"Saffie was simply a beautiful little girl in every aspect of the word," said Chris Upton, the head teacher at Saffie's school. "She was loved by everyone and her warmth and kindness will be remembered fondly.

"Saffie was simply a beautiful little girl in every aspect of the word," said Chris Upton, the head teacher at Saffie's school. "She was loved by everyone and her warmth and kindness will be remembered fondly. Saffie was quiet and unassuming with a creative flair."

Her death was a "tremendous shock," he continued. "The thought that anyone could go out to a concert and not come home is heartbreaking."

Saffie's mother, Lisa Roussos, and her sister, Ashlee Bromwich, survived and were being treated for their wounds in separate hospitals.

john-atkinson.png
John Atkinson, one of the victims of the Manchester arena attack, is pictured in this undated photo.

According to reports, 26-year-old pop music fan John Atkinson was killed as he was leaving Monday's Ariana Grande concert. An online fundraising page was created to help his family finance the funeral, which, on Tuesday, had already surpassed its goal of £1000.

"John was one one in a million and loved by so many!!" the page says. "A true gentleman. R.I.P John thoughts and prayers with you family and all of the other victims effected by this tragedy."

georgina-callander.png
Georgina Callander is shown in this undated photo. She was the first confirmed victim of the attack in Manchester. REUTERS

The first victim to be named in the aftermath of the Manchester attack was 18-year-old Georgina Callander. A statement from her school, Runshaw College, said, "It is with enormous sadness that it appears that one of the people who lost their lives in Monday's Manchester attack was one of our students."

Georgina, who was studying Health and Social Care, had posted on social media about how much she was looking forward to seeing Ariana Grande perform. On Sunday, she tweeted the singer, saying, "SO EXCITED TO SEE YOU TOMORROW."

Appeals for help locating those who remained missing Tuesday were made by their friends and family, with many taking to social media to try to locate their loved ones.

Alex Klis, a student at the University of York, posted on Facebook, "Anyone who is in any safe place or hospital in Manchester, if anyone comes across my parents please please let me know as they've been missing ever since the attack, this is a picture taken tonight so this is exactly what they were wearing."

A concerned relative asked for help locating Martyn Hett, a 29-year-old PR manager who had not been heard from since Monday evening. Martyn's brother, Dan Hett, tweeted, "my brother @martynhett was at the #manchester arena last night and hasn't checked in. if anyone has seen him in any way *please* contact me."


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Dan Hett @danhett
my brother @martynhett was at the #manchester arena last night and hasn't checked in. if anyone has seen him in any way *please* contact me
1:40 AM - 23 May 2017
8,738 8,738 Retweets 2,430 2,430 likes

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) claimed responsibility for Monday night's suicide bombing in a generic statement posted online. CBS News confirmed Tuesday that the man who blew himself up outside the Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England was 22-year-old Salman Abedi, who was known to British authorities prior to the attack.

This story is developing. Check back for updates.



WE’LL SEE…. I THINK THIS BILL ALMOST CERTAINLY WON’T MAKE IT TO THE LEGAL STATUS OF A LAW. AT LEAST I STRONGLY HOPE THAT IT WILL REMAIN A BILL AND “DIE ON THE VINE,” TO QUOTE ONE OF OUR FAR-RIGHT CONSERVATIVES FROM TEN OR FIFTEEN YEARS AGO, IN REFERENCE TO OUR PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM. LET’S FACE IT. A BORDER WALL – NOT A FENCE – WOULD COST A GIGANTIC FORTUNE AND WON’T KEEP EVERYBODY OUT ANY LONGER THAN IT TAKES TO DIG A GOOD TUNNEL. IT’S AN ALL ROUND BAD IDEA.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/omb-director-lays-out-white-house-budget/
By KATHRYN WATSON CBS NEWS May 23, 2017, 1:15 PM
White House budget director: "We are absolutely dead serious about the wall"

Photograph -- Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney holds a briefing on President Trump's FY2018 proposed budget in the press briefing room at the White House in Washington, U.S., May 23, 2017. JIM BOURG

Mick Mulvaney, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, emphasized Tuesday that President Donald Trump and the White House aren't messing around when it comes to border wall funding -- even though the president's budget only allows for a fraction of the wall's required resources.

"We are absolutely dead serious about the wall," Mulvaney told reporters at a briefing Tuesday, saying he knows "for a fact" that the border wall is in the president's top three priorities.

The proposed $4.1 trillion 2018 budget released Tuesday has a line item for "a physical wall" along the southern border but includes $2.6 billion for border security -- a fraction of the wall's projected costs -- to cover land acquisition, wall replacement and new wall costs. Earlier, this year, the Department of Homeland Security reportedly estimated a border wall will cost about $21.6 billion. Some estimates are much higher, such as the $67 billion estimate offered by Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill, the ranking member on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

As the months of Mr. Trump's presidency roll on, even some of his fiercest supporters -- like conservative pundit Ann Coulter -- have grown skeptical that the president may not fulfill his campaign promise to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico. During his campaign, Mr. Trump said Mexico would pay for the wall, and as recently as three weeks ago, he told CBS News' "Face the Nation" that Mexico "will be very happy to pay" for the wall. The White House has also suggested Mexico might pay for the wall through things like better trade agreements.

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Ann Coulter ✔ @AnnCoulter
Today's BORDER WALL CONSTRUCTION UPDATE: Miles completed yesterday-- Zero; Miles completed since Inauguration--Zero. NEXT UPDATE TOMORROW.
11:15 PM - 17 May 2017
771 771 Retweets 2,517 2,517 likes

Mulvaney also defended other aspects of the president's budget, addressing criticism that it slashes welfare programs. Mulvaney pushed back against that characterization and said the president's plan just slows the rate of growth of welfare programs.

Under the president's plan, per the White House budget, Medicaid spending will increase from $378 billion in 2017 to $404 billion in 2018, reaching $524 billion by 2027.

"We're no longer going to measure compassion by the number of programs or the number of people on those programs, but by the number of people we get off those programs," Mulvaney said.

The White House budget doesn't touch Medicare or Social Security, Mulvaney said, but it does make cuts to Social Security disability payments, something Mulvaney said people don't typically think of as Social Security.

"We have plenty of money in this country to take care of the people who need help," Mulvaney said -- just not enough to take care of people who don't need help, he added.

Maya MacGuineas, the President of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB), however, criticized the administration's budget in an interview with CBS News' Jacqueline Alemany.

"Analytically, you do have to make hard choices," MacGuineas said. "I think this is a huge illustration about why being unwilling to talk about the real issues -- Social Security and Medicare and taxes -- means you then you end up gutting all these programs for low income people."

The White House budget also introduces funding for paid parental leave -- something that's traditionally a Democratic proposal, not a Republican one -- costing $25 billion over a decade. The budget also calls for more funding for veterans and funding to entice school districts to adopt school choice programs.

"People don't mind paying their taxes, as long as they know that money is not being wasted and frittered away," Mulvaney said.



JUST LOOKING AT THIS YOUNG MAN’S PHOTOGRAPH (PROBABLY A MUG SHOT) HE SEEMS TO ME TO BE MOST LIKELY SEVERELY MENTALLY ILL OR ON A HEAVY DRUG LIKE MAYBE THORAZINE (IF THEY EVEN GIVE THAT ANY MORE.) THAT IS AN ANTIPSYCHOTIC THAT USED TO CAUSE THE KIND OF STUPEFIED CONDITION THAT HE IS APPARENTLY IN, BUT IS USEFUL TO CONTROL VIOLENT EPISODES, HALLUCINATIONS, SEVERE DELUSIONS, ETC. DOLL WAS ARRESTED RATHER THAN HOSPITALIZED, SO HE MAY NOT RECEIVE ANY MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT AT ALL, WHICH IS SAD. GRANDPARENTS, PARENTS AND THE YOUNG MAN WERE ALL LIVING IN THE SAME HOUSE, WHICH NOWADAYS USUALLY MEANS THAT THEY WERE LIVING ON A LOW INCOME, SO MAYBE THEY COULDN’T AFFORD MEDICAL CARE FOR HIM. HE NEEDS A GOOD PRO BONO DEFENSE ATTORNEY TO ADVISE HIS FAMILY IN HOW TO TAKE CARE OF THOSE THINGS.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/man-used-ax-to-kill-nephew-4-in-basement-of-colorado-home-affidavit/
By CRIMESIDER STAFF CBS/AP May 22, 2017, 11:46 AM
Affidavit: Man used ax to kill nephew, 4, in basement of Colorado home

Photograph -- Emanuel Doll CBS DENVER
Video – Dall in court

BROOMFIELD, Colo. -- An arrest affidavit indicates that a 25-year-old man used an ax to kill his 4-year-old nephew in a Colorado home.

Emanuel Doll was arrested April 27 on a homicide charge after the boy was found dead with what Broomfield police spokeswoman Joleen Reefe has described as a "massive amount of trauma." The affidavit was recently unsealed after a petition by media groups, reports the Denver Post.

Doll's parents, who were in the home at the time, told investigators their grandson went down to the basement where Doll was and then they heard loud noises that sounded like "a pillowcase loaded with items hitting the floor." When they asked what the sounds were, Doll responded, "nothing," and came upstairs, reports the Denver Post.

When they went downstairs, they found the child dead with an ax near his body.

Police officers who found Doll in the backyard say he was covered in blood, the paper reports.

Court documents don't indicate if he has hired an attorney.



MORE FLYNN SUBPOENAS -- I CAN ONLY HOPE THIS DOESN'T SIMPLY CLUTTER UP THE CALENDARS, AND THAT HE IS UNABLE TO PULL THAT OVER AND OVER WITHOUT FACING JAIL TIME.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/senate-intelligence-committee-issues-two-new-michael-flynn-subpoenas/
CBS NEWS May 23, 2017, 7:06 PM
Senate Intelligence Committee issues two new Michael Flynn subpoenas

Photograph -- Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., right, and Vice Chairman Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., listen to testimony during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, March 30, 2017, on Russian intelligence activities. SUSAN WALSH / AP

The top two senators on the Senate Intelligence Committee are questioning whether former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn can invoke the Fifth Amendment to deny them the documents they've requested from him, in relation to their investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

Play VIDEO
Former CIA director says number of Russia contacts with Trump campaign disturbed him

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr, R-North Carolina, said that he and ranking member Sen. Mark Warner, D-Virginia, sent a letter to Flynn, in response to his letter claiming the Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself. Flynn had invoked the privilege to reject the committee's request for documents disclosing all of his contacts with Russian officials and businesses during the Trump campaign. But Burr and Warner questioned "whether you can take the Fifth, as it relates to document production."

Burr also told reporters that the committee will not give Flynn immunity because the committee does not believe it's the place of the committee to offer it. Flynn, in the letter released Monday, had also asked to be protected from unreasonable prosecution in exchange for his testimony. If Flynn does not comply, Burr threatened him with a contempt of Congress charge.

The two senators also addressed Flynn's argument that the committee's document request lacked specificity. To that end, Warner announced two new subpoenas to businesses associated with Flynn -- Flynn Intel LLC and Flynn Intel Inc. -- both of which are located in Alexandria, Virginia. The committee asked for a specific list of documents from the businesses, arguing that corporations are not endowed with Fifth Amendment privileges.

Warner suggested that the committee would ask DNI Dan Coats to testify about his conversations with the president because of the "conflicted testimony" he and Burr had heard from Coats in an open hearing Tuesday. Coats was asked about reports that President Trump had asked him and former NSA Director Mike Rogers to deny publicly there's any evidence showing his campaign colluded with Russia. Coats and Rogers reportedly rejected the president's requests.

CBS News' Alan He contributed to this report.



UNFORTUNATELY, I DO TEND TO AGREE WITH THOSE, USUALLY REPUBLICANS, WHO SAY THAT WE HAVE BEEN TOO SOFT AND TOO SLOW. BRENNAN SHOULD HAVE FOLLOWED UP HIS WARNING WITH ACTION, SUCH AS CLOSING THOSE AMERICAN KGB SITES BEFORE. WHY DID WE HAVE 35 SUSPECTED SPIES IN A RESIDENCE SO FAR AWAY FROM THE RUSSIAN EMBASSY IN WASHINGTON DC? HOW MANY AMERICAN AREAS HAVE LOCAL EMBASSIES – IF THAT’S WHAT THEY WERE – OR MORE IMPORTANTLY, THOSE RUSSIA-OWNED LUXURY MANSIONS THAT WERE PURCHASED FROM DONALD TRUMP AND PERHAPS OTHERS? I DON’T SEE ANY PROBLEM WITH MAKING THE SALE OF AMERICAN PROPERTIES TO ENEMY ALIENS ILLEGAL, IF WE ARE GOING TO DEPORT AN UNKNOWN NUMBER OF ISLAMIC PEOPLE WHO ARE MERELY REFUGEES.

IT’S LIKE WHEN THE HORRIFIC 9/11/2001 ATTACK HAPPENED AT THE HANDS OF AFGHANISTAN/PAKISTAN BASED TERRORISTS, AND GEORGE BUSH INVADED IRAQ. WE DO, OF COURSE, NEED TO REALLY DIG INTO REFUGEES’ BACKGROUNDS BEFORE LETTING THEM IN ON A PERMANENT BASIS. WHAT I’M SUGGESTING IS THAT WE COULD MAINTAIN REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT PLACES FOR AREAS OUTSIDE THE USA AS WELL AS WITHIN IT WITH THE APPROVAL OF THOSE NATIONS, AND PERHAPS PREVENT MASSIVE AND UNCONTROLLED MIGRATIONS OF THE SORT THAT OCCURRED IN EUROPE WHEN ISIS FIRST BECAME SUCH A HUGE PROBLEM. THE UN COULD ORGANIZE IT, SO THAT EVERY NATION WOULD ALLOW SOME IN, AND NO ONE NATION WOULD BE OVERWHELMED.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/ex-cia-chief-brennan-describes-warning-kremlin-cut-dirty-tricks-no-avail-194027062.html
Ex-CIA chief Brennan describes warning Kremlin to cut the dirty tricks — to no avail
Michael Isikoff
May 23, 2017

Former CIA Director John Brennan was so disturbed by Russian “active measures” against the United States last summer — including meddling in the presidential election — that he issued a stern warning to his counterpart in the Kremlin, Alexander Bortnikov, director of the Russian FSB.

Russian efforts to interfere in the U.S. would “backfire” and Americans “would be outraged,” destroying any hopes for improvements in U.S.-Russian relations, Brennan warned Bortnikov in a phone call on Aug. 4. The FSB chief, Brennan said, did what the Russians typically do — deny the allegations and blame the U.S. for concocting them — although he did promise to pass along the message to his boss, Vladimir Putin.

But the bottom line on Brennan’s testimony is that his attempt to call out the Kremlin, which was coordinated with the White House, fizzled. The “influence campaign” by Putin’s government and its surrogates to meddle in the U.S. election continued unabated. The first dump of emails stolen from the Gmail account of Hillary Clinton Campaign Manager John Podesta was made by WikiLeaks on Oct. 7 — more than two months after Brennan had told Bortnikov to cut it out.

“It was all bark and no bite,” said Heather Conley, the director of Europe and Eurasia affairs for the Center for Strategic and International Studies, about Brennan’s phone call with Bortnikov. “Not only did [Russian meddling] not stop, it kept on going — there was a complete intensification.”

Photograph -- Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) Head Alexander Bortnikov at a meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin with Russian Defence Ministry officials and defence industry representatives, at Bocharov Ruchei residence. (Photo: Mikhail Metzel\TASS via Getty Images)
Photograph -- Alexander Bortnikov, head of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB). (Photo: Mikhail Metzel\Tass via Getty Images)

Brennan’s public testimony — his first since leaving office on Jan. 20 — came as investigations are accelerating into Russian meddling in the election and possible links to the Trump campaign. And Brennan tossed some new fuel on that fire, telling the committee that he saw intelligence that revealed “contacts and interactions between Russian officials and U.S. persons involved in the Trump campaign that I was concerned about.” By the time he left office, he said at another point, “I had unresolved questions in my mind as to whether or not the Russians had been successful in getting U.S. persons, involved in the campaign or not, to work on their behalf, again, either in a witting or unwitting fashion.”

But Brennan’s comments in the public session did little to clarify whether those questions were ever resolved, or if he found evidence of actual collusion between Moscow and the Trump campaign. Republicans on the panel repeatedly hammered away on this point, prompting Brennan to say a couple of times that, as an intelligence officer, “I don’t do evidence.”

Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., was having none of it. “I appreciate that you don’t do evidence, Director Brennan. Unfortunately, that’s what I do. That’s the word we use.” He pressed again: “Did evidence exist of collusion, coordination, conspiracy, between the Trump campaign and Russian state actors at the time you learned of 2016 efforts?”

“I don’t know whether or not such collusion — and that’s your term — such collusion existed,” Brennan replied. “I don’t know. But I know that there was a sufficient basis of information and intelligence that required further investigation by the [FBI] to determine whether or not U.S. persons were actively conspiring, colluding with Russian officials.”

Later in the day the committee heard testimony from Brennan in a closed-door, classified session, where he may have revealed more.

With the appointment of former FBI Director Robert Mueller as the special counsel for the Russia probe, and the disclosure that President Trump tried to get two top U.S. intelligence officials to clear his campaign of collusion, the probes are taking off in new, more serious directions, raising the prospect that administration officials may be under investigation for obstruction of justice.

House Intelligence Committee member Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., center, questions former CIA Director John Brennan on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, May 23, 2017, during the committee's Russia Investigation Task Force hearing. Also at the hearing are Rep. Chris Stewart, R-Utah, left, and Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Ark. (Photo: Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP)

Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., center, questions John Brennan. (Photo: Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP)

But Brennan’s phone call to Bortnikov puts the spotlight on the Obama administration’s failure to more effectively counter Russian interference as it was taking place. The Obama White House took no formal action until its final weeks — on Dec. 29, when it imposed new sanctions against Russian officials and entities (including Bortnikov’s FSB and the military intelligence service known as the GRU) and evicted 35 suspected Russian intelligence operatives.

But that was too little — and far too late, according to Conley. When Brennan called to warn Bortnikov, the message had to be echoed “across the government” and “there had to be meaningful consequences,” she said.



FOR A FINAL BIT OF PURE JOY, LOOK AT THIS WEBSITE -- THE LOVELY PHOTOS AND THE INFORMATIONAL TEXT. IT IS SAD, THOUGH, THAT CERTAIN CREATURES HAVE BEEN PUT OFF KILTER BY TOO MUCH LIGHT AT NIGHT, FROM DISORIENTATION TO DEATH -- FOR INSTANCE, THE MAGICAL FIREFLIES. THEY CAN ONLY BREED IN DEEP DARKNESS, BECAUSE THEY SIGNAL EACH OTHER – “HI, GUYS! COME AND SEE ME SOMETIME!” -- BY THE FLASHING LIGHT OF THEIR LUMINESCENT ABDOMENS, AND IT JUST ISN’T BRIGHT ENOUGH UNLESS IT’S REALLY DARK OUTSIDE. I HAVEN’T SEEN FIREFLIES IN 40 YEARS OR SO, EVEN IN THE SOUTH. I BLAMED IT ON THE PESTICIDES. WHEN I WAS A KID WE WOULD CATCH SOME OF THEM AND PUT THEM IN A SMALL GLASS CANNING JAR TO WATCH. I DON’T REMEMBER KEEPING THEM, SO I TRULY HOPE WE TURNED THEM LOOSE AFTER THAT. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING THAT I DO MISS – FIREFLIES, HUMMINGBIRDS, FAIRY RINGS, TADPOLES, COCOONS, PRAYING MANTISES, SASSY SQUIRRELS SHAKING THEIR TAILS AND CHATTERING AT ME, AND MORE. I’LL NEVER SEE THEM AGAIN, BUT I DO HAVE MEMORIES.

https://skyglowproject.com/#new-page

sky·glow – /skī’glō’/ -- noun
brightness of the night sky in a built-up area as a result of light pollution.