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Carter Page,briefly a foreign policy adviser to Donald Trumps presidential campaign, sent a peculiar, rambling letter this week to the Department of Justice, asking it to review the severe election fraud in the form of disinformation, suppression of dissent, hate crimes and other extensive abuses led by members of Mrs. Hillary Clintons campaign and their political allies last year.

Page is reportedly one of several targets of a counterintelligence investigation by the FBI into possible links between Trump associates and Russian officials.

Page provided the lengthy letter to The Intercept when asked whether he would support President Trump using his power as president to declassify any government material to disclose any intercepted conversations between Page and Russian officials. He did not say. Instead he forwarded theletter, which is well-formatted, heavily footnoted, grammatically correct and has no spelling mistakes. However, its content is bizarre.

To begin with, it is addressed to the voting section of the Justice Departments civil rights division, which is charged exclusively with enforcing federal laws that protect the right to vote.

It then makesthe grandiose claim that the actions by the Clinton regime and their associates may be among the most extreme examples of human rights violations observed during any election in U.S. history since Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was similarly targeted for his anti-war views in the 1960s.

Page repeatedly describes as outrageous the news coverage claiming that he has significant connections to Russian officials and what he says was the Clinton campaigns hidden hand behind it.

The Clinton campaign, says Page, engaged in human rights violations, illegal activities, unlawful deceptions, Obstruction of Justice the charge upon which President Nixon was impeached, spreading False Evidence, and an obviously illegal attempt to silence me on an important issue of national and international consequence in violation of my Constitutional rights.

Page also states that he was targeted by the Clinton campaign because he is Catholic, a military veteran, and a man.

In addition to the letter, Page included three appendices: A July 2016 speech he delivered at the New Economic School in Moscow; a response to the director of national intelligences report claiming that Vladimir Putin ordered the Russian government to intervene in the 2016 election to help Trump; and a September 15 letter to FBI Director James Comey asking him to close any inquiry into Page.

In hisresponse to the DNI report, Page addresses the reports statement that Putins chiefpropagandist DmitriyKiselev used his flagshipweekly newsmagazineprogram this fall to castPresident-elect Trump asan outsider victimized bya corrupt politicalestablishment.

Page writes thatBoth as a world-class journalist and as a human being, [Kiselev] is an exceptionally competent, kind and fair individual with the highest level of personal integrity, whose broadcast views closely align with the perspectives held by tens of millions of hard-working, patriotic Americans.

In addition being a television host, Kiselev is head of the Russian government news agency Rossia Segodnya. He is notorious for saying on air in 2012: I think banning gays from distributing propaganda to children is not enough. I think they should be banned from donating blood or sperm, and if they die in a car crash, their hearts should be burnt or buried in the ground as unsuitable for the continuation of life.

Page was essentially unknown in political and foreign policy circlesuntil Trump listed him as one of five people slated for his foreign policy team in aninterviewwith the Washington Post in March 2016.

In August, then-Senate minority leader Harry Reid wrote a letter to FBI Director James Comeycalling for an investigation of evidence he said suggested that Russia might try to manipulate voting results and referred to the speech deliveredby Page the previous month in Moscow, in which he criticized American sanctions policy toward Russia.

Yahoo News in Septemberreportedthat intelligence officials were specifically looking into whether Page hadprivate communications with senior Russian officials about the possible lifting of economic sanctions if Trump became president. Precisely that kind of conversation between former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and the Russian ambassador to the U.S. led to Flynns resignation.

In aninterviewwith the Washington Post, Page responded to the Yahoo story, saying, All of these accusations are just complete garbage. But he announced he was taking a leave of absence from his work with the Trump campaign due to the controversy.

Trumps press secretarysaidin September that Page had no formal rolein the campaign, and during a January 2017 news conference before Trump took office, Trump spokespersonSean Spicer stated that Carter Pageis an individual who the president-elect does not know and was put on notice months ago by the campaign.

Page himself said Wednesday night on the PBS NewsHour: I was a junior member of the campaigns foreign policy advisory group compared to other people that had much more direct interaction with Mr. Trump, who I never actually briefed or was in any small meetings with. I went to many rallies with him, but never any direct meetings.

Page worked in Merrill Lynchs Moscow office between 2004 and 2007, where he was involved in trades involving Russian state-run energy companies, and rose to the level of vice president.

In 2008, Page founded an investment firm called Global Energy Capital, together with Sergei Yatsenko, a former manager at the Russian state-run oil firm, Gazprom. He is now a managing partner there. The company,according to its website, invests growth capital in private energy services companies.

After The Intercept asked Page by email how anything the Clinton campaign had done could be considered a hate crime, Page responded, It all seems to be pretty textbook definition to me (and my lawyers). He added: Ive been harassed non-stop for the last year, based on these and other lies originated by the Clinton campaign.

The letter and appendices Page provided to The Intercept can be read below.

Link:
Carter Page, at Center of Trump Russian Investigation, Writes Bizarre Letter to DOJ Blaming Hillary Clinton - The Intercept

The Park Ridge Heritage Committee isn't quite ready to move forward with a suggestion that Hillary Clinton's name and accomplishments be added to the last granite block of city milestones displayed at Hodges Park.

Meeting at City Hall on Feb. 14, a majority of the seven members in attendance appeared to support a motion that the committee "consider" devoting a plaque to Clinton, but agreed not make a formal decision at this time.

A draft proposal shared by committee member Otto Kohler recommended the block be engraved with "Hillary Rodham Clinton," followed by her positions as first lady, U.S. senator, U.S. secretary of state and candidate for president.

"I personally would like to see Hillary's name on that plaque . [but] I do think the political climate is such that this is not the time to pursue that," said Heritage Committee member Nancy Pytel.

Another member, Patricia Adlaf, agreed that the committee can keep the idea "at the back of our minds," but also said the timing is not right, as the group needs to concentrate on selling Heritage Committee Chairman Milton Nelson's book, "Park Ridge: Milestones of History."

The book, which was published last year, dedicates three full pages to Clinton, touching on her childhood and high school years in Park Ridge, her time as first lady of the United States, and her run for president as the Democratic Party's 2016 nominee. Clinton's photo also appears on the cover of the book.

Nelson said consideration of adding Clinton's name to the series of granite blocks circling the Campfire Girls fountain at Hodges Park dates back to 2008.

"We talked about this nine years ago, when Hillary was running for president the first time," Nelson said. "We said, 'Maybe someday we'll devote this plaque to her.' "

There was also discussion among members about whether individuals must be deceased in order for their names to appear among the milestones, which include more than 30 prominent area events and residents dating back to the area's first settlers in the 1830s.

Kohler, a retired Maine South High School teacher who knew Clinton as a student, said she was the "only person we've talked about for that blank spot."

"If nothing else, the fact that she was a strong, [female] candidate for president says something," Kohler said. "She was the first in American history, and I think she deserves this."

Kohler pointed out that in Park Ridge, Clinton received more votes than Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election. But he also acknowledged that there will likely be "objections" within the community if Clinton's name were to engraved.

Joan Mattingly, another committee member, indicated that leaving the last milestone blank is not necessarily a bad idea.

"I don't have a problem with an empty plaque," she said. "There are generations of Park Ridgeans yet to come, and one of them might be something equally awesome, if not more awesome. I think it's nice to have hope for the future."

Only committee member Warren Wade said he was not in favor of Kohler's motion to consider Clinton for the final milestone.

"She's become controversial," said Wade, mentioning that he is a Republican. "It's not the right time, and it may never come to be the right time, in my mind."

Clinton received recognition from Park Ridge-Niles School District 64 shortly after the November 2016 election when it was announced that the learning resource center at Field School, which Clinton attended in the 1950s and 1960s, would be renamed for her.

Clinton also appears on alumni walls of honor at Maine East and Maine South High Schools.

The granite milestones around the Campfire Girls fountain were completed in 2007. According to Park Ridge Park District spokeswoman Margaret Holler, the Heritage Committee raised money for the project, though the park district is in charge of the blocks' maintenance.

There is not a written agreement between the two entities, she said.

According to the city of Park Ridge website, the Heritage Committee is a volunteer group of members appointed by the mayor who are "dedicated to preserving the history of Park Ridge," in addition to education and spurring appreciation of the city's past.

jjohnson@pioneerlocal.com

Twitter: @Jen_Tribune

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Park Ridge Heritage Committee not ready to include Hillary Clinton among park's 'milestones' - Chicago Tribune

New York Post

Trump can't stop talking about beating Hillary Clinton New York Post White House meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Asked about rising anti-Semitic violence in the United States, Trump replied, I just want to say that we are, you know, very honored by the victory that we had, 306 Electoral College ... and more »

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Trump can't stop talking about beating Hillary Clinton - New York Post

WASHINGTON Alissa Packer, a biology professor in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, has been toting her laptop to the state Capitol on weekdays to edit her students papers from a seat in the audience.

Its a curious place for a 44-year-old mother of two to be during the workweek. But ever since Donald Trump won the election, Packer has found herself drawn there. While responding to emails, she keeps an eye on the legislation being debated and occasionally stops by lawmakers offices to offer a piece of her mind. Sometimes she brings her 10-year-old daughter to show her government in action.

I didnt realize that all of these things were open to the public, Packer said. I didnt know I could just walk into the Capitol and knock on someones door. Its really an amazing introduction to how our government works.

Packer never felt this way about politics before. During the 2016 election, she supported Hillary Clinton and knocked on doors for her a few times. When Clintons local campaign office asked her to work a phone bank on Election Day, she hesitated to do it, she says, because she assumed Trump would be easily defeated.

It was only when he wasnt that something changed within her.

Every day, when Trump issues a new executive order or threat to religious freedom, Im more appalled and inspired, she said. I feel like everything that has value about our country and our democracy is under attack, from free speech to separation of church and state to the civil liberties of marginalized groups.

In a matter of weeks, Packer has become a veritable activist. In addition to staking out the Capitol, she now helps organize Tuesdays With Toomey, a female-led network of progressive activists across Pennsylvania who descend on the local office of Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) once a week to voice their concerns about Trump. And after watching her state representatives debate and pass a draconian anti-abortion bill last week, shes considering running for local office herself.

I think we think of politicians as being exceptionally gifted or talented or special in some way, like they must be really smart, and were intimidated by them, she said. But I saw them in action on Monday, and... we need to be running.

The greatest domestic political fallout from Trumps election just may be the groundswell of women many of whom had never been politically motivated before taking an active role in the future of U.S. governance. Its a development that could have a profound effect on the coming midterm elections, as waves of new voters and activists are brought into the process.

Some, like Packer, have been driven by fear and opposition to the presidents agenda, and by disappointment in congressional Republicans for failing to serve as a check on it. But others, like Madalena McNeil, a 24-year-old college admissions counselor in Salt Lake City, have been motivated by something even more fundamental: a profound sense of regret that they didnt do enough to prevent Trumps ascent in the first place.

Every day I wish that I had done more to stop this from happening, said McNeil, who now organizes a group of local progressive activists called Utahns Speak Out.

Societal privileges hinder people from recognizing the need for action until they feel their life personally affected, and that didnt happen for so many people until Trump was elected, she went on. I do believe people were complacent, and I believe I fall into that category.

McNeil, who only recently moved to Utah and has no background in political organizing, now spends more time on organizing than on her day job in higher education. Her first action was to write a petition to Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) demanding that he return to the state to face his constituents in a town hall. The petition attracted more 2,000 signatures in two days. McNeil then organized a high-volume calling campaign asking Hatch to oppose the confirmation of Betsy DeVos for secretary of education.The campaign took on so much momentum that Hatch later complained in a Facebook post that robocalls were blocking his office phone lines.

Its been a bit surreal, because Im 24, and I started off petitioning the most senior member of Congress, McNeil said. But people tell me thats inspiring them to be involved and make a difference.

If Democrats are to rebound from this nadir, their success will depend on women like McNeil and Packer. But the party will first have to understand why this level of activism didnt exist prior to November, and why the chance to elect the first female president ultimately didnt motivate as many people as the pain of her defeat.

I dont think its that enthusiasm wasnt there, or anti-Trump sentiment wasnt there, said Jess McIntosh, who led communications outreach for Clintons campaign. I think the idea that he could win seemed incredibly far-fetched, which left the stakes seemingly lower than they really were.

Trump was such a cartoon villain during the election that I think most women thought there was no chance this person was ever going to be given the presidency, she continued. So now that thats happened, and its not a hypothetical, Ive been incredibly heartened to see that people are taking to the streets.

Many women didnt need Trump to win in order to become political. Clintons candidacy inspired them plenty, as did for the opposite reason the prospect of electing a male president who called women pigs and bragged about grabbing them by the pussy. After the results came in on election night, there was despair, then anger, and then, eventually, a renewed sense of purpose.

I think that the chance to have a woman as president really woke so many people up, said Kathryn Jones-Porter, a 30-year-old photographer who now organizes Utah Women Unite in Salt Lake City. They were excited at the idea. They started to really see the inequities that are rampant in our society due to gender. So, the dream was there, right within reach, and then it vanished. And in its place was this hot mess we are dealing with today.

Jones-Porter, who has a 9-year-old stepdaughter,said that organizing like-minded people in her community has become a form of self-care after a traumatizing campaign cycle. One hour after the election results were announced, she and her friends started a womens rights Facebook group that has since grown to nearly 7,000 members. On Jan. 23, the first day of Utahs legislative session, the group marched on the state Capitol and overflowed from the rotunda.

We had people pouring into the streets during a blizzard, she said. That was not something we anticipated on a Monday afternoon. Our expectations were absolutely blown out of the water.

Kathryn Jones-Porter

Underlying the rise of women activists across the country is a feeling of powerlessness that an agenda they find so alarming has no checks or balances to hold it back. Its been a motivating force in politics before: The anti-Iraq War movement became politically influential after President George W. Bush won re-election in 2004, paving the way for Democrats to gain control of the House and Senate in 2006. Three years later, as President Barack Obama pushed health care reform through a Democratic-run Congress, the tea party movement emerged as a powerful backlash. Republicans co-opted that momentum under the banner of firing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and they flipped the House back to GOP control in 2010.

Still,the current moment strikes observers as unique. The rallies on the National Mall in opposition to Trump were better attended than his actual inauguration. The town hall protests targeting House members began almost immediately this year, much earlier than the protests that targeted Democrats began in 2009.

Professor Leonard Steinhorn, a political history expert at American University, argues that people are afraid not just of Trumps presidency and the anti-progressive policies on issues from reproductive rights to the environment likely to accompany it. Theyre also worried about the reversal of generations worth of social progress on civil rights, womens rights, environmental protection, LGBTQ rightsand general inclusivity.

I think this was a shock to progressives, that this march towards justice and towards a more inclusive country was on some shaky ground because people could organize and pull it in the opposite direction, Steinhorn said. A lot of people, such as religious conservatives and the white working class, felt they had been losing status in society and wanted to bend history back to a time when their traditions were the only traditions, and they didnt have to share them with other lifestyles or ways of thinking. And now progressives realize, wow, we do have a fight on our hands.

But the current moment also seems unique in how much its being driven by people who were previously not political at all. Many women are concluding that the barriers of entry to local, state and national governance arent that high after all.

In the back of my mind, it was always in my 30- to 40-year plan to run for something, said Kate Agnew, 28, of Minneapolis. But the way I think our country should go isnt currently being represented, and now I dont know what the countrys going to look like in 40 years. So I think now is a better time than any to get involved.

Less than a month into the Trump administration, an unprecedented number of women more than 13,000 have expressed interest in running for office, according to groups that train women to be candidates. Theyre gunning for Congress and for local office; theyre looking to take on Republicans who are too deferential to Trump, and Democrats who havent shown sufficient backbone.

You have these Democrats now they want to be quiet, they dont want to stir the pot, said Erin Tyler, a 35-year-old nurse in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, who just decided to run for state office. Well, we need somebody to stir the pot. Lets go. Stop being so meek and timid. Open your mouth.

For people like McIntosh, who worked to elect women at EMILYs List for years before joining Clintons campaign, its a wonderful thing to watch. But its also bittersweet. A career objective is playing out in real time. But it would have been nice if it had come half a year earlier.

If there is a silver lining to Donald Trump being successful, maybe it is people realizing you dont have to be perfect to run for office, McIntosh said. A whole lot of women woke up and said, Well, Im more qualified than that, so I might as well run.

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Donald Trump Has Mobilized Women In A Way Hillary Clinton Never Quite Could - Huffington Post

The U.S. Army depicted former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as an insider threat in a Powerpoint presentation to soldiers on cyber security.

A photograph of Mrs. Clinton, who lost the Nov. 8 presidential race, is depicted along with two murderers, two leakers of classified information and one who mishandled secrets.

Mrs. Clinton, as secretary of State, exclusively used a home-based server to handle all her government emails, instead of a more secure state.gov address. Some contained highly classified information and the FBI said the server was vulnerable to foreign intrusion. She was not charged.

The others depicted: Food Hood assassin Maj. Nidal Hassan, Navy Yard shooter Aaron Alexis, major leakers Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden, and retired Army Gen. David Petraeus. He provided classified logs to his biographer and girlfriend.

The Army Powerpoint slide was obtained by the Judicial Watch, a conservative non-profit, through the Freedom of Information Act.

The insider threat lecture was delivered to soldiers at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri.

The photo array of Mrs. Clinton et al is headed, Who is the Threat? Insiders.

No wonder it took a lawsuit to extract this damning Pentagon analysis which recognizes former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as an Inside Threat to national security, said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. I hope the Department of Justice takes note and proceeds with an appropriate investigation.

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US Army depicted Hillary Clinton as insider threat in cyber security training - Washington Times