Easy to indict, not so easy to convict.

RUSSIANS CALL MUELLER'S BLUFF

INDICTING PEOPLE WHO YOU BELIEVE WILL NEVER APPEAR DOESN'T ALWAYS WORK

Special council Robert Mueller made headlines when he indicted 13 Russians and several Russian companies, claiming they attempted to interfere with the 2016 election. The indictment which was entered on February 16, 2018 was heralded as evidence of Russian collusion with the Trump campaign. No one believed, including Mueller, that any Russians would respond to the indictments.

On May 9, Eric Dubelier, a partner at the Washington law firm of Reed Smith, representing Concord Management and Consulting, pleaded not-guilty and asked for a speedy trial. They also asked for full disclosure of the evidence against them.

Federal Law requires that a trial, if asked for by the defendant, must start within 70 days of the indictment.

The Mueller group asked for the trial to be delayed as they were not ready to go to trial and that they did not want to disclose their evidence. The Judge refused the request.

On May 16, 2018, Mueller threatened to overwhelm the court with 2 terabytes of Russian social  media without translation. If it was not translated how did they come to their indictment decision?That should make for an interesting trial. He also asked to postpone the trial indefinitely.

It is generally the policy that when an indictment is brought down the prosecution is ready to proceed with a trial. Most of time the defendant wants a delay to examine the disclosed information.

The Judge has not yet ruled on the latest request.

If the judge rules that the trial must commence and all evidence is disclosed to the defendants it puts Mueller in the position of put up or shut up.

It is more likely that Mueller used the indictments to shape public opinion rather than a solid indictment. It will be interesting to see how this proceeds.

Northwestern Lehigh May Board Meeting

BOARD VOTES TO RAISE PROPERTY TAXES BY 1.93%

SPENDING TO INCREASE BY 9.4%

The Northwestern Lehigh school board voted unanimously to raise property taxes by 1.93%. This was the first increase in 7 years. 

This years budget projects spending to be $47,358,745. up 9.4% from last year.

This years revenue is projected to be $42,958,177 up 2.94% including the tax increase.

While the board and administration would like to say that taxes need to be raised because of a slower increase in revenues, the fact that spending is expected to increase by 9.4% focuses were the problem lies. 

A desire to spend on building expansion, new stadium renovations without regard to the limited increase in revenue results in dipping into the pockets of residents again. The new board seems to be set on a path of tax and spend rather than attempting to live within the means of the residents of the district.

It does appear that Northwestern Lehigh School district can look forward to annual tax increases for the foreseeable future.

The board also voted to approve the surveying and engineering for the stadium project to Terraform Engineering for $155,200.

Comey hoped to be enduring power broker.

COMEY WANTED TO BE THE NEW J.EDGAR HOOVER

TRIED TO PLAY ALL SIDES TO ENSURE HIS LONGEVITY

Many have attempted to figure out what James Comey was doing in the 2016 election. It appears he wanted to become a power broker in the image of J.Edgar Hoover. He might have pulled it off if Trump had not won the election.

So, it seems he cooperated with Obama and Attorney General Loretta Lynch in keeping Hillary Clinton under investigation until after the primary election ended. He must have had a deal with Obama and Lynch that if he played his role right he would be rewarded with a long tenure at the FBI. At the runway meeting with Bill Clinton it was agreed that Lynch would be kept on as attorney general in a Clinton Presidency. This would assure Comey's tenure as he had the goods on Clinton and also knew about the deal with Clinton, Obama and Lynch.

With Lynch as Attorney General and Comey as FBI director they would have Clinton on a leash to be a third term for Obama. Obama believed he could have won a third term easily if allowed, and stated as much. He and Clinton made their first trip after their Runway deal and Clinton's exoneration to North Carolina were Obama did most of the talking as Clinton sat on a stool and nodded in affirmation. He made it clear that this was going to be a third Obama term. 

They never had any doubt that Clinton would win. Comey stated as much in his book. His press conference in the last week of the election about emails on Uma's computer was his weak attempt to salvage his and the FBI's reputation. He came out several days before the election to clear her. They all had no doubt about Clinton winning.

Comey believed he now had another 8 years as FBI director, dirt on many people in the FBI and Justice department, and was well on his way of becoming a fixture as FBI Director.

Then the impossible happened, while Obama and Hillary were jiving with Byonce and JZ in Philadelphia, Trump was campaigning hard in Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota. Then Trump posted a convincing win on November 8.

This threw a monkey wrench into Comey's plans, not only was his future not assured, but many people had cut corners to help assure a Clinton victory. They were now all vulnerable to exposure. 

Trump was not sure about Comey, but gave him the benefit of the doubt. When Comey called for a private meeting with Trump to tell him about the contents of the Dossier, Trump believed Comey was trying to hold it as leverage over him. This, his handling of the Clinton email affair and the feeling that he was not going to be working in the best interest of the President, led him to fire Comey. 

After the firing of Comey, Assistant attorney general Rosenstein brought Robert Mueller, a close friend of Comey, to see the president, he recommended Mueller as the new FBI director. Trump wisely decided against this pick.

Within days, Sessions recused himself and Rosenstein named Mueller as special council to investigate Trump.

Scrapping Iran deal is second part of Mid-East strategy.

IRAN'S NEIGHBORS ARE UNIFIED IN OPPOSITION

IRAN HAD 3 YEARS TO CHOOSE PEACE OR AGGRESSION

There is much hand wringing about President Trumps decision to pull out of the Iran Nuclear deal. It is clear that Trump's methods do not include kicking the can down the road to a latter date. While the Iran Nuclear deal delayed their ability to build a nuclear arsenal, it was a deal that actually allowed this in the future. After agreeing to this deal, Iran could have cut back on their support to their allies in Yemen, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Assad in Syria, but instead increased their support for terrorist groups in the middle east.

The middle east had 2 sources of terrorist funding. The Sunni sources for international terrorist funding were primarily in Saudi Arabia. If we recall early in Trumps presidency, he held a large conference in Saudi Arabia were he addressed the funding of terrorism. It was not long after that there was a shakeup in Saudi Arabia were the factions that supported terrorism were arrested and it was made clear that the government was attempting to stop this funding from within the country. There was also pressure applied to Qatar to stop funding to Sunni terrorists. 

Also there was increase in  cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Israel in their mutual fear of Iranian aggression. 

Now, the next step to mid-east peace is to eliminate Shia terrorism financed by Iran. This funding is part of Iran's hope of having an Islamic caliphate controlling all of the middle east. They have also funded terrorist's in Africa.

Now that the fight with ISIS is winding down, it was perceived that Iran would now attempt to increase its influence with its neighbors.

While Iran has mostly adhered to the restraint on nuclear expansion, they have increased their support for terrorism, continue in developing long range missiles, and continue to threaten to eliminate Israel as a state. They have increased shipment of missiles to Hezbollah in Lebanon and Yemen

Rather than wait 10 years to see what Iran does in that time,Trump has decided it is best to put the pressure on now to change the ways of Iran. 

Iran has a well educated population that is not an enemy of the United States. They are a country rich in resources and could be much more prosperous if not engaged in fomenting revolution and chaos with its neighbors. I am sure that negotiations will begin to see if a better relationship can be produced that will benefit  all the residents of the middle east. 

Trump winning in public opinion.

MEDIA HYSTERIA HAS WORN OUT VOTERS

COORDINATED EFFORTS TO FORCE TRUMP OUT ARE LOSING EFFECTIVENESS

It has now been 3 years since Donald Trump came down the elevator and announced he was running for president. No one thought this was a serious effort including this writer. I felt I could support any candidate except another Bush. I leaned toward Scott Walker or maybe Ted Cruz. It soon became clear that there definitely was a different candidate in Trump. Out of 17 candidates he overwhelmed the field with his uninhibited approach to campaigning. He seemed to say whatever he was thinking, this certainly would cost him in his quest to be president. It was agreed by the media that he was a political freak and that they would allow him to dominate the news in an effort to allow him to blow up the Republican party.

The media pushed him to the front by their continuous coverage, proclaiming his self  destruction on a weekly basis. Trump continued to climb in the polls. There is no doubt that Trump is an adherent to the old axiom that all news is good news. That when no one is talking about you that you are in trouble. The media is obsessed with talking about Trump, they are very much like rejected spouses who cannot get their ex-spouses out of their consciousness, no matter how hard they try. It is a phenomenon not like any other in our political history.

After Trump shocked everyone who thought he could not win, by winning, I expected that they would change their strategy. Can they not think of another strategy? Are they so without imagination that they have just doubled down on the same approach? Or have they lost total control of themselves with their hate for Trump. There is classic definition of insanity, "continually doing the same thing and expecting different results"

There can be little doubt that after Trump won, there became an organized, coordinated effort to force Trump from office. This was proclaimed before the inauguration by the likes of Maxine Waters, who couldn't contain herself, and others who predicted Trump would be forced out in 6 months. They then embarked on their present strategy, attack Trump in every possible way to run his poll numbers down, hopefully into the 20's. At the same time embark on an investigation of every aspect of Trump life to find and impeachable offense. This was not an investigation of a crime, but an investigation in search of a crime.

It has now been 14 months into the Trump presidency. Everyone who is at all objective must admit, he has attempted to address every problem head on, no can kicking allowed. Many can oppose his policies, but his enthusiasm has not been diminished. He is still dominating the news every hour of the day. 

The plan to force Trump out or impeach him is really a matter of political opinion. It is unlikely either approach will work with Trump poll numbers near 50%. The opposition in the deep state cannot give up on their fight, there survival is at stake. There can only be one winner in this battle. The secret service better double down on Presidential security.

Blackmail now legitimate political tool.

STORMY DANIELS AND HER LAWYER HAVE COMMITTED BLACKMAIL

ITS OK IF IT IS USED AGAINST REPUBLICANS

Blackmail, Law and Legal Definition; Blackmail is the crime of threatening to reveal embarrassing, disgraceful, or damaging information about a person to the public, family, spouse, or associates unless money is paid to purchase silence. It is a form of extortion.

Everyone is all in a fit that Michael Cohen, Trumps personal attorney, paid Stormy Daniels $130,000 just a few days before the 2016 election. Daniels and her attorney extorted the $130,000 out of Cohen by threatening to release damaging information about Trump.

Cohen paid the blackmail and had the blackmailer sign a Non-Disclosure agreement, something it seems has been pretty common in business, entertainment and the media business.

Of course, Daniels cashed the check, signed the agreement, then realized when Trump was elected president, she didn't get enough. I don't understand why Daniels and her attorney have not been charged with a crime. I would really like someone to explain that to me.

Last year it was reported that Dennis Hastert, who was being blackmailed for years, was arrested for taking his money out of the bank in incremental small amounts to avoid  triggering reports by the bank. The blackmailer was never charged.

Now we have this issue with Trump, who paid the money, got the NDA agreement, and just didn't want to deal with this at the time.

So, the media believes there has to be a way to spin this into Trump having committed a crime. Not one mention of blackmail being a crime.

This sends a message to anyone who has paid off complaints by employees or anyone for that matter , who has listened to their lawyers advice, and paid these people off just to move on and save on lawyers and other costs.

The message is; NEVER pay off anyone, even for the slightest complaint, wire-up, get them to ask for money, then file blackmail charges immediately, let them spin their dirt from the other side of the bars.

This would put a quick stop to all this kind of extortion schemes, which seem to have been quite rewarding in the last few years.

Time to play hardball

TIME FOR TRUMP TO CRACK THE WHIP

LET ROSENSTEIN BE THE FIRST TO GET THE SQUEEZE

It is now time for President Trump to show the Department of Justice that he is still president and as such he can order them to comply. 

First he should hand Assistant Attorney General a list of Documents that he has, as per his authority, declassified. These documents should then be made available to congress and the media unredacted. This should happen immediately, under the supervision of the Secret Service. This is a legal and proper order from the president. This should just be the first tranche, followed by many more to come.

The Department of Justice has been stalling and slow walking these documents for over a year. It is plain that their first priority is to protect the reputation of the Department of Justice and the FBI.

They are hoping they can cover up their wrong doings until they can get Trump out of office, then they will all be cleared. 

This is a political war, without blood to this point, but a war non-the-less and there will not be a peaceful resolution. The leadership of the Department of Justice and the FBI engaged in many unlawful acts under the last administration and are continuing today.

Their survival depends on removing the President from office any way they can.

The media and the citizens of the country should welcome the release of all these documents, transparency is always what everyone cries for.

The good people of the Justice department should want their reputation cleared. Cover-ups will not protect them, but will destroy the reputation of the good employees.

Rosenstein should be required to act immediately, if  he fails to obey a lawful order from the President, he should be warned 1 time and then fired.

If this sets off a constitutional crisis, so be it, lets get this bull shit behind us one way or the other. If everyone thinks that the impeachment of this President will be a walk in the park, think again. Lets see if everyone is ready to go down the road of chaos and possibly violence. This is the kind of turning point that may go down in history as the event that set off a series events that once started cannot be stopped.

Republican 7th Congressional District debate.

FEW DIFFERENCES IN POSITIONS OF 2 CANDIDATES FOR CONGRESS

QUESTION IS, WHO CAN WIN IN NOVEMBER?

There was a debate last night sponsored by the Northampton county republican committee. It was held at the Brown & Lynch Legion Post in Easton.

The candidates are Dean Browning from Lehigh county, who has a long career in the private sector, having worked at Air Products, Coca-Cola, Harvel Plastics and New world Aviation where he is now the CFO.

Also Marty Nothstein, also from Lehigh county, who is a small businessman and farmer. He is well known as having won an Olympic Gold medal in cycling in 2000. He is married and has 2 children. He has served for 3 years as a Lehigh county Commissioner.

On the issues, both candidates were very similar in their responses. Both being conservative Republican Candidates. 

Northstein hopes to serve on the Agriculture and small business committees if elected. Browning states he would hope to serve on the budget committee and Homeland security.

This debate was well attended by republicans who were very interested and enthusiastic. Also attended were a few democrats, who may have been envious of the well planned, well organized and fair event attended by a courteous and well behaved crowd. 

Both candidates are qualified to be citizen representatives of the 7th Congressional District that encompasses Northampton and Lehigh County. Neither is a career politician. Browning has served in County Commissioner in the past and has run unsuccessfully for numerous county offices.

The big question for republicans is, who is the best candidate to be a winner in November. It is more important this year than ever before to hold the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Gun rights Rally, Harrisburg April 30.

SECOND AMENDMENT SUPPORTERS RALLY IN HARRISBURG

Approximately 1000 supporters rallied in the Pennsylvania capital of Harrisburg on Monday April 30. The rally was attended by around 30 state Representatives and some Sheriffs from around the state. It was emphasized many times that the state constitution states that, "The right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the state shall not be questioned"

The rally supporters filled to capacity the Rotunda as they were addressed by state representatives, sheriffs, and leaders from the NRA and Gun owners of America.

The rally lasted about 90 minutes and voiced to the Governor and State Representatives opposition to any restrictions on gun ownership by law abiding citizens.

It was an orderly and well behaved crowd exercising their constitutional rights and letting those in office know that they are under scrutiny for their stands that may be infringing on any of our constitutional rights.