Sharyl Attkisson

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DOJ ready to investigate politically-connected Google

Multiple news reports state that the Department of Justice is planning an antitrust investigation into the world's most popular search engine: Google.

Google has been under scrutiny for allegedly skewing its results, often to favor liberal interests and to the detriment of conservative interests. Google has denied those claims.

Google is a subsidiary of the politically-active company Alphabet. Alphabet has given millions of dollars political contributions to Democrat Hillary Clinton through its employees and Political Action Committees, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. As such, Alphabet was a top donor to Hillary Clinton as U.S. Senator ($1.6 million) and also the top donor to Clinton's failed 2016 presidential campaign ($1.6 million).

Alphabet was also the top donor to Democrat Bernie Sanders' failed presidential bid in 2016 ($361,408).

  • Google's parent company, Alphabet, contributed more than $3.2 million to Hillary Clinton's political campaign through its employees and PACs.
  • As Bernie Sander's top donor, Alphabet contributed $361,408 to that campaign in 2016. (Source: Center for Responsive Politics)

Alphabet is not listed as a donor of significance to presidential campaign of Donald Trump, a Republican, in 2016.

As I reported in The Smear, Alphabet's executive chairman at the time of the 2016 campaign, Eric Schmidt, offered himself up as a campaign adviser to Clinton. And Google also provided funding to start up a nonprofit, First Draft, which launched the campaign against so-called "fake news" in September of 2016.

Under First Draft's definition, fake news is primarily-- if not exclusively-- a conservative issue.

Alphabet reportedly raked in nearly $137 billion in revenue in 2018.

Google reportedly controls more than 70% of the search engine market.

In 2013, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigated Google under antitrust law but took no action.

Read more about the antitrust story by clicking the links below:

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/31/doj-preparing-antitrust-probe-of-google---dow-jones.html

https://thehill.com/policy/technology/446447-justice-dept-preparing-to-launch-antitrust-investigation-into-google-report

Police Scanner Audio: Virginia Beach Shooter DeWayne Craddock

Alleged shooter DeWayne Craddock, allegedly shown in work photo

The website Heavy.com has published some background about the latest mass shooter in the U.S.: DeWayne Craddock. Some of the information was gleaned from prior newspaper articles about Craddock, according to the website.

Craddock was a public utilities engineer whose name frequently appeared on city notices. He was entrusted with giving tours on pumping stations to community leaders, and he was a former member of the Army National Guard.

--Heavy.com

Heavy.com has also published the police scanner audio of exchanges recorded during the response to the shooting including, Craddock audio in which Craddock was named as the suspect. The audio also details the movement of the police SWAT team.

Please note: The audio may be disturbing to some. It can be found at the bottom of the Heavy.com article. The report of a police officer being shot-- but apparently protected in part by his bullet proof vest-- can also be heard.

(Opinion Note: In my opinion, the police scanner audio serves to emphasize the heroic nature of many law enforcement officers who find themselves in harm's way on a regular basis as they do the job of protecting the rest of us.)

According to Heavy.com: "In July 2018, the City of Virginia Beach published an article that suggested people contact 'DeWayne Craddock with Virginia Beach Public Utilities.' The article was about utility work affecting local traffic. There are many such city notices with his name listed. In 2014, he was listed as the contact person for the city’s “Public Utilities Design Standards Manual Update.”

Various news media published photos of the victims after the photos were released by police today. You can read CNN's article on the victims by clicking here.

Read more and listen to the police scanner audio at Heavy.com

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San Francisco bans facial recognition technology

Facial recognition art by teguhjatipras

The city of San Francisco has banned local government agencies from deploying facial recognition technology.

The recent vote by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors came in response to criticism about the technology.

Facial recognition identifies or verifies a person's identity by comparing digital images to faces in a database. It is controversial because critics say the method could be used to conduct real-time surveillance, invading individual privacy. There have also been questions about the technology's accuracy and about cases of mistaken identity.

The ban only applies to city agencies; not individuals, businesses or federal agencies. Observers say it's likely to inspire similar efforts elsewhere.

Read more in Wired.

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Questions about deficient medical care for immigrant children

Unaccompanied migrant child
Photo by U.S. Customs and Border Protection

A pediatrician who has treated migrant children describes extensive negligence and lapses in medical care at shelters. That account is reported in a multi-state investigation by ProPublica.

Dr. Elana Levites-Agababa describes a consistent and repetitive lack of medical care for migrant children. She says that minors who report medical issues are frequently left untreated. Dr. Levites-Agababa also says that some of the children's issues are life threatening and could lead to death if not properly treated.

ProPublica documented multiple incidents of serious health issues as a surge of children is crossing into the U.S. through the Mexican border.

The federal government is managing a network of about 100 shelters. At the end of February, there were 13,500 children in the shelters, according to ProPublica.

Read more in Michael Grabell's ProPublica article at the link below:

https://www.propublica.org/article/pediatrician-who-treated-immigrant-children-describes-pattern-of-lapses-in-medical-care-in-shelters

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.

Facebook said to be working on major settlement over privacy issues

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook
Photo by Anthony Quintano

Facebook is said to be negotiating a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over alleged privacy violations. That could include an agreement for the federal government to oversee Facebook practices for two decade, according to reports.

The FTC has been investigating Facebook since at least March when it was revealed that the social media site gave information on 87 million users to a research firm: Cambridge Analytica. Only 270,000 of the users reportedly gave permission for their data to be used.

Facebook has stated that it expects a multi-billion dollar fine. However, some U.S. lawmakers have stated that Facebook should face greater consequences.

Facebook has faced heavy scrutiny in the past year amid increasing criticism over its data sharing and privacy practices.

Facebook claims it has not violated a prior FTC agreement in which it agreed to obtain permission from users before sharing their data, according to CNET.  

Read Annie Palmer’s article in the Daily Mail here.

Read more in Reuter’s here.

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.

Are "obstruction" allegations actually signs of desperation?

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A friend of mine who is — I’ll just say it — a devoted Trump-hater recently was talking about President Trump’s obstruction and asked what I thought.

After listening to his views, I told him there’s plenty about which to criticize the president, as is true of any political leader. But the obstruction charge doesn’t make logical sense. I used an analogy to explain why. When I finished, this friend still hated Trump — but surprised me by saying, “Nobody’s ever explained it that way. That makes sense. You should write about it.”

Obviously, I don’t kid myself that this analogy will “make sense” to everyone. But after listening to both sides and looking at the publicly available evidence, here’s how I see it:

If you were a person of some authority and murdered someone, and prosecutors set out to investigate, and if you spoke publicly against the investigation, proclaiming your innocence and calling the probe a “witch hunt,” and if you worked behind the scenes to use your influence to fire the lead investigator on the murder case — that would seem to be a pretty clear case of obstruction of justice. You, as a guilty man, would be trying to stop authorities from finding out the truth.

But imagine, on the other hand, that you are innocent — accused of a murder you didn’t commit. Not only that, imagine you knew there was no murder to begin with because you saw the victim walking around after the supposed murder. Then, imagine you found yourself the target of the murder investigation by a team that included people who had declared you to be their sworn enemy and expressed strong desires to take you out. Then, imagine this team that included biased investigators began leaking false information to the national media to implicate you in this crime that you knew you didn’t commit. (Continued...)

Read the rest of my article in The Hill by clicking the link below:

https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/445353-why-obstruction-and-cover-up-charges-smack-of-desperation

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.

Senators ask about alleged abuse of illegal immigrant minors

Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa)
Photo by Gage Skidmore

There's a bipartisan push in Congress to get answers about alleged abuse of illegal immigrant children.

Senate Finance Committee chairman Chuck Grassley (R – Iowa) and the committee's lead Democrat, Ron Wyden, are looking for answers regarding serious accusations of physical and sexual abuse of migrant children. The abuse reportedly happened at federally funded housing facilities for the children.

The reports outline “horrific and intolerable” accusations of sexual abuse, as well as abuse of federal funds. Grassley and Wyden are asking for an accounting of exactly how the taxpayer funds were used, and whether or not the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement was negligent in its duties to keep the children healthy and safe.

For more information, and to read the full letter from Grassley and Wyden, click here: https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/wyden-grassley-demand-answers-misconduct-and-abuse-federally-funded-facilities

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.