Sharyl Attkisson

Michigan's fight for clean water

Firefighters standing in fire-retardant foam, which contains PFAS chemicals. Photo by Alex Brauer.

Toxic PFAS (Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) have found their way into Michigan's ground water, and other states across the country, reports Joce Sterman of WJLA. These PFAS are known as "forever chemicals," which are toxic substances found in almost everything from clothing to cooking products - and as the name suggests, they're almost impossible to get rid of, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Michigan is leading the way when it comes to removing these PFAS from groundwater, says WJLA, and had dedicated carbon-activated filters working hard to remove the pesky PFAS.

The water filters down through the filter media. It’s like a big Brita, if you’ve ever used one in your fridge. We say this is the biggest Brita you’re ever going to see.
Brian Steglitz - overseer of water treatment services in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to WJLA.

WLJA reports that although they are effective, these "big Brita" filters are costly, with a hefty $850,000 price tag for just one. Michigan tells WJLA that it has the money and resources to spend in order to solve their own PFAS problem, but other states might not.

You can read more about PFAS and Michigan's plan here: PFAS in Michigan's water.

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Top 5 conspiracy theories about Jeffrey Epstein's death

The New York Medical Examiner has ruled Jeffrey's Epstein's death to be a suicide by hanging.

That determination came today. Epstein's suicide was first reported Saturday.

Epstein, a convicted sex offender, faced, new charges of sex trafficking involving underaged girls.

Read about the Jeffrey Epstein sex documents and photos

It's been reported two prison guards have been suspended and a warden reassigned amid an investigation into how Epstein could have managed to commit suicide while under supervision.

Many conspiracy theories about Epstein's death have been circulating. Here are the top five:

Powerful people arranged for Epstein to be murdered in his cell to prevent him from revealing blackmail information.
Other inmates executed a plan to murder Epstein because he was accused of trafficking children for sex, and that's unforgivable even among hardened criminals.
The feds staged Epstein's suicide and spirited him away for his own protection. He is actually in a secret witness protection program and will reappear later to testify against famous and powerful people.
Powerful, corrupt people broke out Epstein. He has changed his identity and will never been seen in public again.
The purported photo of Epstein being wheeled into the hospital is actually a photo of the deceased celebrity Anthony Bourdain.

Conspiracy theory photos circulating on Twitter

The Medical Examiner's official findings are not necessarily going to quell the rumors. Shortly after the conclusion was announced, Epstein's lawyers indicated they did not accept it. They said they intend to launch their own investigation and "are prepared to sue to obtain surveillance video of the area near the accused sex trafficker’s cell at the time of his death."

We are not satisfied with the conclusions.
Epstein attorneys Martin G. Weinberg, Reid Weingarten and Michael Miller

Read more about the Medical Examiner's findings on Epstein's death and his attorneys' response by clicking the link below:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-49377421

https://www.thedailybeast.com/jeffrey-epstein-death-ruled-suicide-by-new-york-city-medical-examiner

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Did China, not Russia, hack into Hillary Clinton emails?

A deep dive into newly-released documents showing China may have hacked into Hillary Clinton's email as secretary of state, but the FBI and Agent Peter Strzok seemed disinterested when told in 2016.

Click the Soundcloud arrow or link below. And read more here.

Unscientific poll: what happened to Jeffrey Epstein?

Over half of respondents (57%) believe Jeffrey Epstein was murdered.

That’s according to the newest SharylAttkisson.com unscientific poll.

Forty-three (43%) of respondents have other theories as to what happened to Epstein, but no respondents (0%) believe he died of natural causes.

The full poll results are below. Meantime, vote now in our new poll on the home page at SharylAttkisson.com! Look for the black box on the right sidebar or scroll down on the mobile site.

Jeffrey Epstein...

Committed suicide (8%)

Was murdered (57%)

Is in witness protection (16%)

Died a natural death (0%)

I don't know (19%)

Fight improper government surveillance. Support Attkisson v. DOJ and FBI over the government computer intrusions of Attkisson's work while she was a CBS News investigative correspondent. Visit the Attkisson Fourth Amendment Litigation Fund. Click here.

Investigators: FBI's Peter Strzok "aloof and dismissive" when told of possible China hack into Clinton emails

Newly-released documents provide details from investigators who worked in Obama administration's Intelligence Community Inspector General's office

Almost all of Hillary Clinton's emails were surreptitiously sent to mysterious email address.
Foreign hack suspected... and it isn't the Russians.
FBI's Peter Strzok says he doesn't recall investigators telling him of suspected national security breach.
Clinton State Dept. officials allegedly sought to manipulate email classifications.
Investigators in Clinton email probe were followed, burglarized.

During the 2016 election year, Intelligence Community investigators briefed the FBI, including lead agent Peter Strzok, on China's possible hack into Hillary Clinton's private server, but got the cold shoulder.

That's according to newly-released documents. They include summaries of transcribed interviews with two former Intelligence Community Inspector General investigators: Frank Rucker and Jeanette McMillian.

Jeanette McMillan, former Intelligence Community Inspector General investigator. Courtesy: iwacademy.org

In February 2016, while working for the Intelligence Community Inspector General, Rucker and McMillian had identified a possible national security breach in the Clinton email probe. It was a strange email address found in the metadata within almost every one of more than 30,000 government emails Clinton improperly routed through her private server as secretary of state.

The email address was "Carterheavyindustries@gmail.com."

Metadata showing mysterious email address that nearly all of Hillary Clinton's government email on her private server was secretly routed to while she was secretary of state.

Rucker and McMillian found that nearly all of Clinton's sent and received emails were surreptitiously routed to that mysterious address. Based on their research, they suspected it was a secret repository or "live dropbox" installed by Chinese interests.

Hillary Clinton using a mobile device while Secretary of State

According to their testimony to Congressional investigators last December, but first made public this week, Rucker and McMillian drew the important anomaly to the attention of the FBI in February 2016 at a meeting that included agent Peter Strzok, whom Rucker described as "aloof and dismissive."

FBI agent Peter Strzok was 'aloof and dismissive' during a February 2016 meeting with Intelligence Community investigators who informed him of a possible national security breach of Hillary Clinton's email server containing classified government documents.
Frank Rucker, Intelligence Community Inspector General investigator

Rucker said when he informed Strzok of the potential Chinese hack, Strzok seemed "nonplused" by the information and didn't ask any follow-up questions.

Rucker and McMillian say when they briefed other FBI agents, the agents remained "poker-faced," indicated they were already aware of the issue, and questioned Rucker and McMillian about how they found it.

McMillian testified that she and Rucker, "let the FBI know that [Intelligence Community Inspector General] was not trying to do the FBl's job and that they only found it by means of protecting [Intelligence Community Inspector General] assets and sources."

Rucker and McMillian say they never received any follow up and do not know what work the FBI did regarding the breach.

Based on Congressional testimony from Strzok, it is possible the FBI did nothing.

Remarkably, Strzok testified he doesn't even recall receiving the information about the suspected Chinese hack from the Intelligence Community Inspector General investigators.

At a Congressional hearing in July 2018, Rep. Louis Gohmert (R-Texas) asked Strzok about his meeting with Intelligence Community Inspector General investigator Rucker in February 2016.

Strzok: I remember meeting Mr. Rucker on either one or two occasions. I do not recall the specific content or discussions.

Rep. Gohmert: Mr. Rucker reported to those of you, the four of you there, in the presence of the [Intelligence Community Inspector General] attorney, that they had found this anomaly on Hillary Clinton's emails going through their private server, and when they had done the forensic analysis, they found that her emails, every single one except four, over 30,000, were going to an address that was not on the distribution list. It was a compartmentalized bit of information that was sending it to an unauthorized source. Do you recall that?

Strzok: Sir, I don't.

Rep. Gohmert: He went on the explain it. And you didn't say anything, you thanked him, you shook his hand.

To try to learn more about the possible hack, the Department of Justice Inspector General subpoenaed Paul Combetta, the man who administered Clinton's server, for documents regarding the suspicious email address. Combetta's counsel responded that Combetta had no relevant documents and that "Carterheavyindustries@gmail.com" was "a made-up name."

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Combetta is the Clinton associate who, in March 2015, permanently deleted a large number of Clinton's emails after they had been subpoenaed by Congress. He used special software to prevent their forensic recovery.

Combetta declined to be interviewed by the Justice Department Inspector General (DOJ IG). Combetta and two other computer experts who worked on Clinton's private email server, Bill Thornton and Bryan Pagliano, asserted their Fifth Amendment right not to testify to Congress in the investigation. Pagliano and Combetta were ultimately granted immunity from prosecution by the Justice Department.

Two attorneys who worked for Clinton also received immunity: Cheryl Mills and Heather Samuelson. So did John Bentel, head of the State Department information resources management office when Clinton was secretary of state.

Paul Combetta, Hillary Clinton email administrator. Courtesy: C-SPAN

The newly-released documents also confirm the FBI discovered compromises to email accounts of numerous Clinton associates who emailed her, including adviser Sidney Blumenthal and State Department official Jake Sullivan.

Ultimately, then-FBI Director James Comey concluded that while Clinton was grossly negligent in mishandling classified government information on an unsecured, personal server, her abuses were not intentional and she should not be charged with any crime.

Alleged State Dept. attempts to manipulate classification of Clinton's emails

Besides the startling news that Strzok, the lead agent in the FBI Clinton email investigation, doesn't recall the conversation about the possible Chinese hack, there is other new information contained in the documents released Wednesday.

There were deliberate efforts by State Department loyalists to manipulate the classification level of documents, according to Rucker and McMillian. They say the senior Obama State Department officials sought to "downgrade classified material" to reduce the perceived volume of classified, government information discovered on Clinton's unsecured, private server.

The State Department officials they named include Austin Evers, Catherine Duval and Ambassador Patrick Kennedy.

Rucker says that in one meeting, the State Department's Kennedy threw documents across the table at him asked, "Why does this need to be classified?"

Whistleblower career employees within the State Department also reportedly notified the Intelligence Community that others at State involved in the review process deliberately changed classification determinations to protect Secretary Clinton.
Senate Republican staff memo dated Aug. 14, 2019

This is not the first time that State Department officials have been accused of tampering with documents in order to protect Clinton.

During the investigation into the Obama administration's handling of the Islamic extremist terrorist attacks against Americans in Benghazi, Libya in 2012, it was alleged that Clinton loyalists at the State Department took part in an after-hours review and separation of subpoenaed documents.

Read: Clinton officials take part in after-hours Benghazi review in State Dept. basement, according to former State Dept. official

According to the whistleblower, former State Department diplomat Raymond Maxwell, he witnessed the session on a weekend in the basement of the State Department.

Maxwell told me that two Clinton confidents were present: Cheryl Mills, Clinton’s chief of staff and a former White House counsel who defended President Bill Clinton during his impeachment trial; and Deputy Chief of Staff Jake Sullivan, who previously worked on Hillary Clinton’s and then Barack Obama’s presidential campaigns. Mills and Sullivan had no comment when contacted for the news report on the subject.

Maxwell says no law enforcement officials ever interviewed him about the alleged "document sorting."

Former Clinton Deputy Asst. Secretary of State says he witnessed Benghazi document-sorting session

Govt. watchdogs were followed, burglarized during Clinton email probe

Also within the newly-released documents are chilling disclosures from the investigators at the Intelligence Community Inspector General's office working on the Clinton email probe.

Intelligence Community Inspector General Charles McCullough says he noticed a Jeep following him from the State Department to the door of his house. Another Intelligence Community Inspector General official also reported being followed by a Jeep.

Charles McCullough, former Intelligence Community Inspector General. Courtesy: C-SPAN

Yet another reported that he was burglarized and all his computers were stolen.

And McCullough says he discovered someone sorting through his recycling bin at home.

The newly-released documents also disclose an alleged leak within the Intelligence Community Inspector General's office.

The suspected leaker was the son of a pastor and adviser to the Clintons. However, Inspector General McCullough made the decision not to confront the official or pursue an investigation into whether he had leaked classified information, and he was not formally accused or charged with anything.

Newly-released email between Clinton lawyers with investigative notations referencing alleged leak.

Rucker and McMillian were interviewed last December by bipartisan staff members from then-Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.).

The summary of their classified interview and relevant exhibits were made public yesterday by Senators Grassley and Johnson.

Strzok and former FBI official Andrew McCabe have both filed lawsuits against the Justice Department this week alleging their firings under President Trump were politically motivated.

Andrew McCabe, Former FBI Acting Director

Strzok was removed from the Special Counsel investigation into alleged Trump-Russia collusion after it was learned he sent voluminous anti-Trump text messages to his alleged FBI mistress, attorney Lisa Page.

McCabe was fired after the Justice Department Inspector General found he authorized leaks in the probe into the Clinton Foundation and then allegedly did not tell the truth about them when asked by investigators.

Both men deny any wrongdoing.

You can find the released documents by clicking HERE.

Internet cloud providers are dumping "problematic" websites

Recently, the "internet infrastructure firm" Cloudfare removed the website 8Chan (also known as Infinity Chan) from its servers, according to Wired.

This is reportedly in response to the website housing "numerous posts and manifestos linked to horrific mass shootings in the United States and around the world." For example, the alleged killer from the El Paso shootings posted his manifesto on 8Chan.

Cloudfare is a company that provides the platform for 8Chan to work. 8Chan is an online forum/image board that is mostly unregulated, where people can post photos and texts.

While some may believe removing 8Chan seems like a good solution at first, this solution has been tried before with other "problematic" websites, say experts, and with forums that end up resurfacing later anyway. That's why some observers say removing 8Chan from the servers of one company won't necessarily keep it from popping up on another. There's also an issue, described in the Wired article, of Cloudfare unintentionally setting a precedent for other companies to remove websites they personally consider controversial.

Cloudfare CEO Matthew Prince had this to say to Wired regarding the removal of 8Chan:

8chan has been on our radar for a long time as a problematic user... But we have a responsibility, which is much beyond "We terminate sites we don’t like." I’m nervous about whether we’ve made the right decision, and I’m nervous about how this will set precedent in the future.
Matthew Prince - Cloudfare CEO

Prince also told Wired that removing 8Chan solves the problem for Cloudfare itself, but doesn't address the issue of how hate brews online. You can read the rest of Wired's story here: Cloudfare Ditches 8Chan.

Jeffrey Epstein sex case documents and photos

Epstein victim Virginia (Roberts) Giuffre in 2001

No sexual accusations against Presidents Clinton or Trump
New, notable personalities named, including big money political donors
New flight records, photos, book receipts, message records

Thousands of pages of documents regarding sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein were unsealed and released Friday, the day before Epstein reportedly committed suicide in New York's Metropolitan Correctional Center, a U.S. federal facility.

More documents are under court review for possible release.

The court considers any claims in the documents to be unproven allegations that are in dispute.

This article answers some basic questions about the documents and the notable personalities mentioned in them.

What are the documents from?

The documents are from a now-closed 2015 federal defamation case filed by an Epstein victim, 36-year old Virginia (Roberts) Giuffre, against Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell.

Maxwell had called Giuffre's abuse claims "obvious lies." In Guiffre's defamation suit against Maxwell, Giuffre accused Maxwell of acting as a “Madame” for Epstein to traffic Giuffre, then 17, and other girls and young women to "The Rich and Famous." Giuffre alleged that she was also sexually abused by “numerous prominent American politicians, powerful business executives, foreign presidents, a well-known Prime Minister and other world leaders.”

A key document in the batch is a 74-page filing dated January 2017, made public by the court Friday. It includes an eight-page memorandum of law, a 16-page statement, and about 700 pages of exhibits.

What was Ghislaine Maxwell's response to the lawsuit and allegations?

Maxwell denied all of the allegations, including defamation, sex abuse, sex procurement and underage sex trafficking. She said she did not know that any of the masseuses working for Epstein were minors. Maxwell settled with Giuffre in 2017 for an undisclosed sum before the case went to trial. Giuffre had already received a financial settlement from the 2008 plea deal that put Epstein in prison.

Flight logs indicate Maxwell and Giuffre were together on 23 Epstein flights, but Maxwell has said she does not recall any of them.

Giuffre submitted this photo to the court, allegedly showing a trip she made to Europe with Maxwell and Epstein.

Why were the documents recently released?

The documents were released as a result of a lawsuit filed by former Epstein lawyer Alan Dershowitz, a Harvard law professor. In 2016, Giuffre began to include Dershowitz among those she said she had sex with in the Epstein ring. In a 2016 deposition, Giuffre claimed she performed oral sex on Dershowitz in a limo and had sex with him on an airplane.

Dershowitz strongly denied the allegations and stated that the documents, if released, would prove Giuffre was not telling the truth.

What do the documents say about Alan Dershowitz?

Included in the documents is an email showing a reporter that appears to suggest to Giuffre that she add Dershowitz's name to those she accused, as a way to pitch a book. The email from the reporter to Giuffre appeared to state that the claim against Dershowitz would be treated as plausible because Giuffre "probably met him." Dershowitz says that indicates Giuffre did not actually recall meeting him, let alone have sex with him.

Professor Dershowitz is pleased that these documents are finally coming to light and is confident that the truth will prevail.
Imran Ansari, Alan Dershowitz lawyer

Dershowitz also says that while he flew on Epstein's plane a number of times, it was “never, never, never, in the presence of any underage or even close to underage person.”

What do the documents say about two U.S. Presidents?

Epstein once had ties to both President Clinton and President Trump. Both men claim to have broken off any friendship with Epstein years ago. It is important to note that neither Clinton nor Trump has been accused of any sexual impropriety in the Epstein case. Giuffre specifically stated in her 2016 deposition that there were no allegations of sex involving Trump.

What do the documents say about Donald Trump?

During Epstein's abuse of underage girls, Epstein was a regular customer (though not a member) at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida. Giuffre worked there and says Maxwell recruited her to provide sex and other young girls to Epstein. Earlier-released court records indicate Trump banned Epstein from the property after Trump learned of Epstein's alleged sexual abuse of a girl there.

Prior to the ban, in 2002, Trump remarked that Epstein was “terrific” and that "[Epstein] likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”

The newly-released documents include flight records indicating Trump flew one time on Epstein's private plane. The trip was with a small group that travelled from Palm Beach, Florida to Newark, New Jersey on January 5, 1997.

Giuffre says she never saw Trump and Epstein together. She also contradicted a previous statement quoting her as saying Trump had flirted with her.

It’s true that [Trump] didn’t partake in any sex with us, but it’s not true that he flirted with me. Donald Trump never flirted with me.
Virginia (Roberts) Giuffre, Epstein victim

What about Bill Clinton?

Epstein reportedly visited the White House numerous times while Bill Clinton was president, and the two were at the same fundraising dinner in 1995. Maxwell was reportedly a guest at Chelsea Clinton's 2010 wedding.

Clinton previously acknowledged, through a spokesman, that he took four trips on Epstein's private plane in 2002 and 2003: one to Europe, one to Asia, and two to Africa. The spokesman indicated that some of the stops were linked to Clinton Foundation work and that "Staff, supporters of the Foundation, and his Secret Service detail traveled on every leg of every trip."

One trip in the early 2000s included Epstein, Clinton, comedian Chris Tucker and actor Kevin Spacey for a tour of an African AIDS treatment center.

Other reports claimed that flight manifest records appeared to indicate Clinton took many more flights, up to 27, on Epstein's plane from 1999-2005.

In a deposition released with the new documents Friday, Giuffre said she flew on jets with Clinton and said she believed Clinton also flew on Epstein's private helicopter, though she said she did not personally witness the helicopter travel. Giuffre testified that Clinton’s Secret Service detail was present with him on flights, though not physically next to him at all times.

New flight documents released Friday span from November 1995 through August 2013.

President Clinton knows nothing about the terrible crimes Jeffrey Epstein pleaded guilty to in Florida some years ago, or those with which he has been recently charged in New York...He’s not spoken to Epstein in well over a decade, and has never been to Little St. James Island, Epstein’s ranch in New Mexico, or his residence in Florida.
Angel Urena, Bill Clinton spokesman (July 2019)

What do the documents say about Prince Andrew?

Prince Andrew is a member of the British royal family, the second son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, eighth in line to the British throne. The newly-released documents include a photo purporting to show Giuffre, then 17, with Andrew.

A photo in court documents appears to show Prince Andrew (left) with Giuffre (center) and Epstein associate Maxwell (right).

Giuffre alleges she was sent to have sexual encounters with Andrew, and described one such alleged incident in her deposition released Friday. Giuffre also says Andrew participated in an orgy with underage girls on Epstein’s island of "Little Saint James" in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Andrew denies all of the claims.

In a videotaped deposition among the newly-released documents, another Epstein victim, Johanna Sjoberg, claimed Andrew touched her breast as she sat on Andrew's lap at Epstein's New York residence where they were all staying.

I just remember someone suggesting a photo, and they told us to go get on the couch. And so Andrew and Virginia (Giuffre) sat on the couch, and they put the puppet, the puppet on her lap. And so then I sat on Andrew’s lap, and I believe on my own volition, and they took the puppet’s hands and put it on Virginia’s breast, and so Andrew put his on mine.
Johanna Sjoberg deposition

Giuffre also stated that Maxwell once asked Andrew how old he thought Giuffre was "and he guessed 17 and they all kind of laughed about it and Ghislaine made a joke that I was getting too old for Jeffrey. She said, ‘He’ll soon have to trade her in'.”

In addition to Andrew's denials, Buckingham Palace also says any claim that Andrew committed improprieties is false.

What about Thomas Pritzker?

The Pritzer Group, of the Hyatt hotel chain, has donated to both political parties but primarily to Democrats, giving a total of $23 million in 2016, according to Open Secrets. Pritzer was Hillary Clinton's second biggest donor, giving her campaign $16.6 million in 2016.

Executive Chairman Thomas Pritzker's name was included in Epstein's "little black book" and his private plane logs. In the newly-unsealed documents, Giuffre named Pritzker as someone she was directed to have sex with in the Epstein ring.

Pritzker denies the accusations.

What information is there about Bill Richardson?

Bill Richardson (D-N.M.) is a former New Mexico governor, and U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. and Energy Secretary under President Bill Clinton. Richardson's name reportedly appeared in Epstein's "little black book" of contacts, and Richardson was said to be a guest of honor at Epstein’s Zorro Ranch in New Mexico. Giuffre named Richardson as one of the powerful politicians she was directed to have sexual encounters with. Richardson has strongly denied the allegations.

These allegations and inferences are completely false...To be clear, in Governor Richardson’s limited interactions with Mr. Epstein, he never saw him in the presence of young or underage girls. Governor Richardson has never been to Mr. Epstein’s residence in the Virgin Islands. Governor Richardson has never met Ms. Giuffre.
Madeleine Mahony, Bill Richardson spokeswoman

Virgnia (Roberts) Giuffre on Epstein's New Mexico ranch, photo submitted to court

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How about George Mitchell?

George Mitchell (D-Maine) is the Democrats' former leader of the Senate, and served as President Clinton’s Special Envoy for Northern Ireland, and President Barack Obama’s envoy to the Middle East. He once praised Epstein as a supporter of philanthropic projects and someone who had organized a fundraiser for Mitchell. In a deposition, Dershowitz stated that Mitchell was a house guest of Epstein's. Giuffre named Mitchell as one of the politicians that Epstein and Maxwell sent her to for sexual contact.

Mitchell says that allegation is false and "I have never met, spoken with or had any contact with Ms. Giuffre.”

In my contacts with Mr. Epstein I never observed or suspected any inappropriate conduct with underage girls. I only learned of his actions when they were reported in the media related to his prosecution in Florida. We have had no further contact.
George Mitchell, former Clinton official

What is in the documents about Glenn Dubin?

Giuffre also named wealthy New York financier Glenn Dubin as being part of the sex ring. Dubin and his wife, Eva, were said to be close friends of Epstein's. Eva Dubin is a former Epstein girlfriend and former model. She is also a doctor and was an in-house physician at NBC.

The Dubins are listed as significant donors to both Democrats and Republicans including former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, President Obama, Hillary Clinton, Richardson and former Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona)

In a deposition released in the documents, a former house manager for the Dubins, Rinaldo Rizzo, tearfully testified that he consoled a 15-year old Swedish girl in 2005 at the Dubins' house after she said Maxwell took part in transporting her to Epstein's island and instructed her to have sex. The girl says she refused, and that Maxwell held her passport and phone and told her not to speak of the incident.

Rizzo said the young girl was “distraught and shaking... literally quivering” as she told the story.

[She said] "I was on an island, I was on the island and there was [Maxwell], there was Sarah, she said they asked me for sex, I said no." And she is just rambling, and I’m like "What?" ...And she says "Yes, I was on the island, I don’t know how I got from the island to here. Last afternoon or in the afternoon I was on the island and now I’m here...She was shaking uncontrollably."
Rinaldo Rizzo recounting his conversation with 15-year old girl

The Dubins say the allegations are false.

Glenn and Eva Dubin are outraged by the allegations in the unsealed court records, which are demonstrably false and defamatory. The Dubins have flight records and other evidence that definitively disprove that any such events occurred.
Dubin family spokesperson to Daily Beast

In a statement after Epstein's more recent arrest, a spokesman for the Dubins said the couple is "horrified by the new allegations against Jeffrey Epstein. Had they been aware of the vile and unspeakable conduct described in these new allegations, they would have cut off all ties and certainly never have allowed their children to be in his presence."

Epstein victim Virginia (Roberts) Giuffre, photo submitted to court

What is William Barr's involvement?

Attorney General William Barr is not accused in the lawsuit or named in any documents. In 2007, Barr was working for the same law firm that defended Epstein in his original criminal case, though Barr was not assigned to the case. Barr has recused himself from any review of the original, controversial "sweetheart" plea deal Epstein obtained.

Who else?

In her 2016 deposition, Giuffre also named former MIT scientist Marvin Minsky as someone she was sent to have sex with while she was underage. (Minsky passed away in 2016.)

Giuffre previously claimed modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel recruited underage girls for Epstein through his modeling agency. He denies it.

Astronaut and former Sen. John Glenn (D-Ohio) was listed on one of the flight logs as having travelled on Epstein’s plane. Dershowitz previously said in an interview that Glenn flew to Ohio with Dershowitz, Epstein and former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres for a birthday party. There are no allegations of impropriety against Glenn. (Glenn passed away in 2016.)

They instructed me to go to George Mitchell, Jean Luc Brunel, Bill Richardson, another prince that I don't know his name. A guy that owns a hotel, a really large hotel chain, I can't remember which hotel it was. Marvin Minksy....There was, you know, another foreign president, I can’t remember his name. He was Spanish. There's a whole bunch of them that I just—it’s hard for me to remember all of them. You know, I was told to do something by these people constantly, told to—my whole life revolved around just pleasing these men and keeping Ghislaine [Maxwell] and Jeffrey [Epstein] happy. Their whole entire lives revolved around sex.
Virginia (Roberts) Giuffre, Epstein victim, 2016 deposition

Included in the newly-released documents is a photo of a half-nude young girl allegedly confiscated from Epstein's residence.

The deception of deep fakes

This is one of my all time favorite Full Measure stories. It takes us down the rabbit hole of so-called "deep fake" technology. And it explains why we can no longer believe our eyes.

As conspiracy theories about Jeffrey Epstein's death circulate, it's a reminder that governments, companies and individuals have capabilities that extend beyond what we know in the general public.

Watch my report on Deep Fakes by clicking the link below. The transcript follow, but this is one story where you have to see the special effects for yourself!

http://fullmeasure.news/news/cover-story/deep-fakes

Today, a fascinating and somewhat frightening trip down a technological rabbit hole. To a place where it’s becoming nearly impossible to believe your own eyes. Deep Fakes are videos that use Artificial Intelligence to make it look like someone said or did something they never said or did. As you can imagine, they’re raising all kinds of legal and policy concerns. That’s today’s cover story.

Siwei Lyu is our intrepid Deep Fake detective.

He’s an associate professor in Computer Science at the University at Albany, New York.

How to watch Full Measure

Sharyl: In very simple terms, can you define Deepfake?

Lyu: Deepfake is just an AI-based algorithm software that can swap faces.

Before we go there, it’s worth noting that we’ve been faking images for as long as we’ve been recording them.

Lyu: It’s actually not a real photograph of Lincoln; is actually a composition of Lincoln's head with somebody else's body.

Sharyl: Maybe this faked image crossed your internet path in 90s.

Sharyl: So, this says it's a real photo, but it's not?

Lyu: This is not.

The shark was added.

Lyu: And with the help of Photoshop, you can load these two images in, crop the original out, and put it back into compose generating this fake photograph in about 10 minutes.

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The meteoric leap forward came in December 2017. An anonymous internet user by the name “deepfakes” demonstrated new face-swapping Artificial Intelligence capability using it to insert celebrity faces into porn videos.

One unfortunate victim of the X-rated face puppetry was Wonder Woman star Gal Gadot. “Deep fakes” made the technology available to anyone through a free app. And pretty soon, countless technophiles joined the party.

One popular extrapolation involves swapping actor Nicholas Cage’s face into all kinds of scenarios— Nicholas Cage as Stephen Carrell

Video: No God, please no. No.

Nicholas Cage as captain of the Star ship Enterprise Using Cage is an inside joke — he starred in the 1997 film Face/Off

Face/Off: I will become him

where his character switches faces with John Travolta’s.

Face/Off: Let’s just kill each other.

Sharyl:This is Nicholas Cage's face?

Lyu: Right, deep faking Nicholas Cage's face into different person including President Trump, Tom Cruise, Ben Stiller

Sharyl: In simple terms, the process has to do with taking hundreds or thousands of images of the person to be swapped in and sending them through an automated training process - Putting Hollywood-quality special effects within most anyone’s reach. By the way, that’s Donald Trump as Frankenstein’s monster.

Jennifer Lawrence: My favorite is probably Lisa Vanderpump.

Here, the face of actor Jennifer Lawrence is swapped out with actor Steve Buscemi...

Lawrence: I don’t know what to say, because who knows when you’re gonna run into these people.

Which Buscemi seemed to find pretty creepy when he was shown a clip on a comedy show.

Steve Buscemi: It makes me sad that someone spent that much time on that. I’ll bet that was hard to do.

Not as hard as it used to be. To see how easy it can be to make someone say words they never actually uttered, Lyu’s team created a demonstration for Full Measure. First, I make it clear that I don’t like donuts.

Sharyl: I did not take the donuts from the break room. I have never eaten a donut in my life.

Next we record Full Measure correspondent Lisa Fletcher saying the opposite.

Lisa: I love donuts and I ate all of the ones that were in the break room.

Face swapping technology literally puts Lisa’s words in my mouth.

Lisa, deepfake: I love donuts and I ate all of the ones that were in the break room.

Now, on the right, I’m even blinking and moving my head in Lisa’s pattern, not my own.

Lisa, deepfake: I took the donuts from the break room, I have eaten donuts all my life.

But it’s hardly all fun and games.

Obama deepfake: We’re entering an era in which our enemies can make it look like anyone is saying anything at any point in time.

Filmmaker and comedian Jordan Peele was part of an effort to put words into former President Obama’s mouth as a warning.

Obama deepfake, Jordan Peele: You see I would never say these things at least not in a public address. But someone else would. Someone like Jordan Peele. This is a dangerous time. Moving forward we need to be more vigilant with what we trust from the internet.

Sharyl: What are the potential dangers of this technology?

Lyu: If somebody wanted to manipulate the stock market, generating a short video of a company CEO announcing the performance of the company, this probably will cause a stir and then cause some movement in the market. So, that's a likely scenario.

To try to stay ahead of the bad guys, Lyu and his team are working under a contract from the military’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, DARPA. Early on, he discovered one sign of a Deep Fake.

Lyu: And one day I realized something not correct, not right. And that is those figures in the fake videos, they don't blink. They never blinked actually. Their eyes keep open.

As shown in this unblinking Deep Fake of Nicholas Cage as Tom Cruise. But no sooner do analysts like Lyu figure out how to detect a Deep Fake, than the method becomes obsolete.

Lyu: This detection of fake media and the synthesis of fake media is playing a cat-and-mouse game. We always trying to beat the other side. So, once they notice there's a way fake videos can be detected, they actually improve their algorithm.

Sharyl: Now they blink?

Lyu: They blink now, yes.

Kalev Leetaru: Historically in Hollywood that took a lot of resources.

Sharyl: Special effects?

Leetaru: Exactly. Exactly. And now using deep learning and all this AI technology, machines are able to do that almost in point and click simplicity.

Kalev Leetaru is an analyst with the think tank: The Center for Cyber and Homeland Security. He worries about the accessibility of Deep Fake technology. The app is free. There are tutorials online.

Sharyl: If a Deepfake were used for malicious purposes, what is the fear?

Leetaru: ..what Deepfakes has done, its lowered that bar where you can just literally take a video of Donald Trump speaking, load it into a package and then set the camera, have yourself talking and literally make him talk, hit record, submit it back to Twitter and suddenly you have a video of him giving a speech somewhere.

Recently, Congressman Adam Schiff sounded warnings about deep fakes and the 2020 presidential campaign.

Rep. Adam Schiff: That concern now is heightened exponentially given that this new technology would allow the Russians or any other foreign actor, or any other malicious domestic actor, to push out in proximity to an election video or audio which is completely a forged product.

Meantime the technology moves forward. Early iterations relied on using a lookalike to make the face swap more convincing. Now, that’s no longer needed.

Beckham: Malaria isn’t just any disease.

English soccer star David Beckham appears to be flawlessly speaking multi-languages in this video about malaria.

Beckham deepfake: (Arabic) “And it still kills a child every two minutes.” (French) "But we can end it. We have the knowledge, we have the opportunity.”

Whether the technology is used for good or evil there’s a brave new artificial reality.

Sharyl: Are we quickly approaching a time do you think when we shouldn't believe at face value anything we see online?

Lyu: I think, at least, I will say everybody should be careful and keep vigilant about this kind of visual media we're seeing, simply because we have the capacity of changing them.

Lyu is working on ideas to make photos that we post online on social media harder to steal and use in face swapping technology. Also with the warning not to believe anything, is undermining our trust in all videos including those that are genuine, it’s own problem? When we can no longer be sure what is real and what is not? And there’s the issue of plausible deniability. People can say something real “is not me.”

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