Sri Lanka: Coal Deal — Yet Another Corrupted deal Under the New Govt.

Power Secretary demands the resignation of Coal Chairman who opposed crooked deal

( January 17, 2017, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Secretary to the Ministry of Power and Renewable Energy BMS Batagoda has written to the President demanding the resisgnation of ‎Maithri Gunaratne, Chairman of Lanka Coal Company (Pvt) Ltd, who had continiously opposed the attempts to sign an unfavourable deal to import coal to Sri Lanka.

A few days after an Auditors General report revealed that Sri Lanka lost Rs 4145.43 million in 2016 due to an agreement, signed after obtaining Cabinet approval through misleading ministers, to import coal to the country, the Ministry of Power has entered into a similar agrement.

With this agreement, the state will have to pay US $ 10 per ton above the real market price.The first ship carrying coal will arrive with a shipment between 40 000 – 60 000 tons. The Letters of credit have already opened to facilitate this deal.

Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CaFFE) wrote to Presdient Maithripala Sirisena about this corrupt deal on January 04, 2016. We pointed that because of this deal Sri Lankan government has lost at least Rs 4145 million and that even the Supreme Court of the country has declared that (verdict no SCFR394/2015) that the deal must be made null and void.

CaFFE also states that three politicians, belonging to both Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and United National Party (UNP), are directly involved in this corrupt deal. ACF also wrote to the new Director General of the Bribery Commission inquiring what action has been taken on the previous complaint lodged by ACF.

With this deal members of the Good Governance government will have the opportunity to embezzle more money than what the Rajapaksa administration made in four years. Some of the so called Civil Society leaders, who claim they were behind President Sirisena’s victory say that it is OK to steal in moderation.

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Weerawansa was remanded because of MR ! B report reveals -story in detail …

(Lanka-e-News -17.Jan.2017, 10.10AM) It is the question on everybody’s lips , how was ex minister Weerawansa responsible for the misuse  of Sate vehicles ? Meanwhile Mahinda Rajapakse and Namal Rajapakse who are  displaying  the label that they are lawyers are questioning ,  aren’t    deputy minister , chairman and  others too responsible ?

Based on the report submitted to court in connection with the crime committed by Weerawansa , it has come to light that it is none other than  Mahinda  Rajapakse who is  accountable for Weerawansa’s incarceration. Sadly ,the total lack of legal knowledge of these two synthetic and spurious lawyers (papa and sonna) who passed  law examinations  via trickeries and treacheries has become  crystal clear going by their stupid questions and remarks.
 
Unbelievably , it has now become clear , it is Ali baba (chieftain of the den of  crooks) Mahinda Rajapakse who  is responsible for the incarceration of ‘ ‘malli baba’ (member of the den) Weerawansa owing to the following reasons… 

The minister exercising his  ministerial discretion can  employ voluntary officers , but there is no provision that permits  the  minister  to grant state  vehicles to them  .

The minister is entitled to only three official vehicles and the number of vehicles that can be used by the minister and his staff is decided based on the presidential circular. In case more vehicles are to used , prior special permission has to be obtained from the presidential secretary . Otherwise the minister must hold himself fully responsible for the extra  vehicles used. 

Shockingly , when grade nine qualified Weerawansa who was a pauper some years ago , as a minister granted  vehicles to his sister , wife’s sister ,the  cook at home and so many others close to him like his dowry property and ancestral property , he had not obtained the permission of ( currently deposed and discarded )  ex president Mahinda Rajapakse’s secretary . Therefore in such circumstances  , the deputy minister or others do not   become liable since the entire guilt and responsibility must be shouldered by ex minister Weerawansa (the corrupt crook)   himself , under the laws. If Weerawansa has granted vehicles to his relatives or any other duly after obtaining permission legally , Weerawansa the moron would not have been liable. Interestingly, the necessary permission was not  granted by Machiavellian and mendacious ex president Mahinda Rajapakse , and that is what  led to Weerawansa’s incarceration . Today , Weerawansa is in dire straits because of Mahinda .  Therefore poor Weerawansa  the moron who is grade 9 qualified, and unable to identify what is lawful and unlawful had granted state vehicles to ‘all and sundry’  like those are part of  his dowry property and ancestral property. 

Based on statements recorded of  Weerawansa’s secretaries , Gotabaya Jayaratne , Wimalasiri Perera and  Nissanka Naomal Wijeratne , extra vehicles beyond those allocated to the ministry by the presidential secretariat were obtained solely and wholly on the initiative of Weerawansa the  minister then , and it were on his advice . Weerawansa’s statement too had confirmed that . 

Although it was possible to make his actions lawful through the treasury secretary subsequently , Weerawansa has acted as though he is a law unto himself.  What better conduct can be expected of a  grade 9 qualified moron who was a riffraff just some years ago ?

Poor Weerawansa therefore had to bear the brunt of the entire responsibility .

The question posed by  Namal ‘baba’ and Mahinda ‘papa’ why,  deputy minister , the chairman and others who were also liable  not charged ? is answered by the reply , what is the gain they secure by providing vehicles to Weerawansa’s relatives and hangers on ? Besides , why should those rackets of Weerawansa pain them  when they know it is he who has to face the consequences some day ?  whereas  Namal  ‘baba’ and Mahinda ‘papa’ (Alibaba the chieftain of the crooks) are pained over Weerawansa’s frauds because they too have obviously gained from Weerawansa’s  perfidies and treasons.     

Based on the investigations , it has become very clear that Weerawansa has directly taken initiatives and intervened to provide vehicles to his relatives and his party activists . This was corroborated by none other than Ananda Priyadharshana the husband of Weerawansa’s younger  sister Nilani Weerawansa. Priyadharshana had also revealed , he was asked to get  a driver by the name of Ajantha in addition to the vehicles  after mentioning the names of Wimal Weerawansa and Sarath Weerawansa , according to the B report.  

Apart from Wimal Weerawansa and Samantha Lokuhennedhi who were recently remanded , charges have been filed against Prasad Manju ( Weerawansa’s private secretary ), W.H.K.P.S. Wijesekera (Weerawansa’s co ordinating secretary ) , and  P.S. Wijesiri alias Dhampala(  Weerawansa’s Homagama electorate organizer) . Cases are to be filed against them shortly, according to the B report.   

The comprehensive B report pertaining to Weerawansa the cardboard patriot and his ‘patriotic’ fraud causing billions of rupees loss to the country can be downloaded by clicking on the line below. 

http://www.lankaenews.com/home/downloads/43/B-Report-of-Wimal-Weerawansa-Vehicle-corruption-2017Jan.pdf

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by     (2017-01-17 04:49:11)

Malik Samarawickrama Plays Dirty Games: Breaks Rules To Please Henchmen And New Found Friends

January 18, 2017

Cabinet Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade Malik Samarawickrama, who is also a very close associate of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has been accused of playing dirty games in the Yahapalanaya government in his attempts to serve his very own personal agendas, by openly flaunting regulations and letting his henchmen run riot and call the shots.

According to highly placed sources, Samarawickrema has been pushing for the formation of the Agency for Development, which will take a direct hit on the Board of Investment, so he can run the show to his liking and will not stick to any regulations laid down in recent times by the Board of Investment which has been trying to enhance transparency in various investment related dealings.

“Samarawickrema has given powers to Mangala Yapa, an acquaintance of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa to call the shots and even issue directives to ministry secretaries and officials, even though he does not hold any official position,” sources said. The Bill to enact the Agency for Development is yet to be tabled in Parliament.

“Yapa is using his powers given to him by Samarawickrema and giving orders to the Secretary of the Ministry and officials as well as to other agencies. Even Prime Minister Wickremesinghe is using both Malik and people like Yapa to get their dirty work done,” sources said.

Following the change of presidency in 2015 and with the Yahapalanaya coming to power, the chairman of the Board of Investment appointed subsequent to the administration change promoted the concept of transparent land policy.

“As per the land Policy of the BOI they called for bids on a two envelop basis. One on the price of the land and secondly on the project. As for the price BOI has published the lowest price in the gazette. As for the Horana zone there has to be a minimum payment of US $ 40,000/- per acre and an annual payment of US $ 3850/- per acre. However since the ascendancy of the new President, as bids are called from time to time with public notice investors have the opportunity to bid higher on a competitive basis. During the last three months BOI has called for bids for all the zone lands including Horana,” a highly placed source pointed out.

While this policy was in place, so called business tycoon Nandana Lokuwithana, and ‘front man’ of former president Mahinda Rajapaka, who owns the Dubai Marriot Hotel, Steel Corporation and the latest tyre factory for which the Prime Minister laid the foundation stone in Horana entered the picture.

“Any applicant who seek to get land from BOI must submit their application and be evaluated and submit the highest bid price over and above the minimum price of US$40,000 per acre in Horana Zone. But, for Lokuwithana this rule did not apply. He sought the support of Samarawickrema and sought to get the land at a special price. He wanted to get the land of 100 acres for 99 years. The BOI board had refused and turned Lokuwithana’s offer, however he insisted and went to Samarawickrema for redress, who then submitted a paper to the Cabinet Committee headed by Prime Minister Ranil Wicremesinghe and got it approved,” the source said.

According to the valuation by the Chief Valuer the price per acre was US$ 11,000. Two companies had been given land, five acres and two acres at these rates and two other companies have submitted bids namely Singer Ltd., and D Samson Industries for 15 acres and 5 acres US$ 80,000/- and D Samson Industries at 40,000/- per acre respectively. Singer is seeking to produce refrigerators, washing machines and low cost furniture with an investment of Rs. 3,000 billion. Both these companies will also pay the annual facilitation charge of US $ 3850/- per acre. This facilitation charge is for the purpose of the water, electricity and the roads supplied and maintained by the BOI. Every enterprise located within the zone has to pay this fee to the BOI for the facilities they enjoy. This Company ‘Rigid Tyres’ is to be given land in extent of 100 acres at approximately US $ 11,500/- per acre instead of minimum US $40,000/- Lokuwithana was not content with the bargain he got from the Prime Minister and Samarawickrema and he wanted the annual facilitation fee of the BOI reduced from US$ 3850 per acre to US$ 1/- per acre. This proposition came to the Chairman BOI, who flatly refused.

“Then Lokuwithana went back to Samarawickrema and complained that the BOI Chairman Upul Jayasuriya was refusing to grant his request. Samarawickrema then submitted another paper to the Cabinet Committee, and got approval to reduce the annual per acre rate to one US dollar per acre. It is also proposed to carve out the 100 acres out of the Zone and separate it. This Company has also been given a further exception by granting them a 12 year tax holiday which no Company has been given after 27 April 2016 as per a decision of the Cabinet. The zone has been declared by President in a gazette. There is no provision to de zone this parcel of 100 acres. Therefore it would not appear to be ‘right’ to de zone it simply to accommodate one company, and the Government will not be able to justify it in the public domain,” sources said.

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Air Force officer arrested at BIA


2017-01-17

A SLAF Flight Lieutenant was today arrested by Customs officers at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA), when attempting to smuggle eight bottles of foreign liquor into the country, Airport Customs Deputy Director Parakrama Basnayake said.

 He said the arrest was made at the airport tarmac when the Flt. Lieut. was on the verge of removing the bottles bypassing the Customs.

 Mr. Basnayake alleged that the Flt Lieut. had smuggled 40 bottles of foreign liquor on five earlier occasions. Investigations had revealed that these bottles had been given to him by Indian passengers to be taken out of the airport. The suspect was handed over to the Air Force Police for further investigations. 

Meanwhile, Air Force Spokesman Gihan Seneviratne said the Air Force was unable to make any comments on the incident on the basis that investigations were continuing. (Chaturanga Pradeep)

Tourism secretary’s world tour

Jan 17, 2017

An assistant secretary of the Tourism Development and Christian Religious Affairs Ministry has gone overseas on 16 different occasions in the past year alone, say ministry sources. It is alleged she uses powers of her position and swindles all the government and foreign scholarships and seminar opportunities available for ministry staff. She takes part in foreign seminars as a representative of Sri Lanka but she does not have the requisite English proficiency.

A top entrepreneur in the tourism hotel sector told us that even at Tourism Board directors’ meetings, she starts her speeches in halting broken English, but ends up speaking in Sinhala. It is very damaging to the image of Sri Lanka when she addresses seminars attended by foreign investors and representatives in broken English, he told our correspondent.

When top government officials go overseas on official duty, they are paid a daily allowance of 750 Euros from public money. But, that is only if the organizers of the seminars or the training sessions do not provide food and accommodation. In the event such facilities are provided, it is illegal and against state administration regulations to obtain that allowance. However, this assistant secretary has obtained this allowance at some of the foreign training programmes which have provided all these facilities, it is alleged. It is the ministry’s responsibility to investigate these allegations.

We will keep a watch on what action the ‘Yahapaalana’ government takes against state officials who swindle training opportunities and obtain duty allowances in this manner.

Palestinian parties agree to form unity government

Agreement comes following three days of reconciliation talks in Russia

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas (C) welcomes senior Hamas official, Ahmed Haj Ali (C-L) during the opening ceremony of the 7th Fatah Congress (AFP)

Tuesday 17 January 2017

The main Palestinian parties on Tuesday announced a deal to form a national unity government prior to the holding of elections, after three days of reconciliation talks in Moscow.

"We have reached agreement under which, within 48 hours, we will call on (Palestinian leader) Mahmoud Abbas to launch consultations on the creation of a government" of national unity, senior Fatah official Azzam al-Ahmad told a press conference, speaking in Arabic.

Ater the government is formed, the Palestinians would set up a national council, which would include Palestinians in exile, and hold elections.

"Today the conditions for (such an initiative) are better than ever," said Ahmad.

The non-official talks in Moscow began on Sunday under Russian auspices with the goal of restoring "the unity of the Palestinian people." Representatives came from Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other factions.

Abbas's secular party Fatah and the Islamist Hamas have been at loggerheads since the latter seized Gaza in a near civil war in 2007.

Last year the Palestinian government postponed the first municipal polls in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip in 10 years after the high court ruled they should be held only in the Fatah-run West Bank.

The last time the Palestinians staged elections in which both Hamas and Fatah took part was in 2006. 

The Palestinian representatives also met on Monday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and asked him to dissuade incoming US president Donald Trump from carrying out a campaign pledge to move the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Israel captured east Jerusalem during the 1967 war and later annexed it - in a move not recognised by the international community - declaring all of the city its unified capital.

"We sensed understanding on the part of Mr. Lavrov," said Ahmad.

Ahmad and Moussa Abu Marzouk of Hamas spoke derisively of the Quartet - the United States, Russia, the EU and UN - in its years-long effort to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"The Quartet's work completely failed. It was unable to advance the decisions taken by the international community, including (UN) resolutions," said Ahmad.

"It is imperative to find a new working mechanism for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," he said.

Abu Marzouk, a senior Hamas official, said he no longer wanted to work with the Quartet but instead with countries and organisations on an individual basis.

"Russia can play a substantial role" in the region, he said.

A Gaza friendship

Adli (right) and Mansour (left) on top of al-Muntar hill, the highest point in the Gaza Strip, near where Mansour was injured in an Israeli strike.--Mansour and Adli shop together for shoes, Adli wearing the right shoe as Mansour tries on the left one.--“Despite our disability, we make sure to go to the gym to maintain our fitness,” Adli said.

While riding a motorcycle, Adli, on the left, drives as Mansour, on the right, maintains balance.--Adli, in the center, along with his bride Jumana during a mass marriage ceremony in Gaza City organized for Palestinians wounded by Israel.--“We didn’t think that we would get married, and now I’m congratulating my friend for his marriage,” Adli said.

Mousa Tawfiq and Mohammed Asad-16 January 2017

When Adli Ibeid went to get his car repaired in a shop in Shujaiya, a neighborhood near Gaza City, in February 2010, he had no idea that he would make a new friend whose life would become profoundly intertwined with his own.

“I heard of a skilled car electrician in the neighborhood. I went there to repair my car and I met Mansour for the first time,” Adli said.

Mansour al-Qirim, the electrician, “was a very energetic, polite young man with a big smile. We grew closer to one another until we became good friends.”

They came to rely on one another as each would be gravely injured in separate Israeli attacks the following year.

“We had no choice but to believe that together, we could face our new fate,” Adli, now 25, said.

Adli was the first of the pair to be injured.

“I was walking near a group of children who were playing soccer in al-Mansoura street in March 2011. Suddenly, they were targeted by an Israeli airstrike,” Adli said. “I tried to help them, but another missile hit the area, leaving me with serious wounds.”

Adli was injured during a week of extensive Israeli airstrikes and shelling, alongside increased rocket fire from Gaza. Fourteen Palestinians, including six civilians, were killed, and 52 more – the vast majority of them civilians, including 19 children – were injured.

Adli lost consciousness on his way to the hospital, and the emergency medics thought he had died. He was taken to the morgue and left there until his father came to identify his son.

Adli’s father sensed his son breathing.

“I felt everything but couldn’t do anything, until I heard my father’s screams,” Adli recalled.

After spending three days at the intensive care unit at Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital, Adli regained his consciousness to discover that he had lost his left leg.

“At first, I was shocked, but over time, I accepted the reality and looked towards the future,” he said.

Adli eventually traveled to Egypt for surgery which improved his condition. When he returned to Gaza, his friend Mansour was waiting for him.

Mansour visited Adli regularly and encouraged him to have faith and patience. “It was very difficult to see my friend in such a situation,” Mansour said. “I didn’t know that I was going to have the same fate soon.”

Mansour would need to take the same advice he had given to his friend.

“In 2011, I was moving steadily towards the life of which I used to dream. I got my own workshop after mastering the craft as a car electrician,” Mansour, now 23, said. “I was an ambitious and successful 18-year-old young man.”

This was all turned upside down in August that year.

“I was passing by some of my neighbors, near al-Muntar hill, when they were directly attacked” in an Israeli airstrike, Mansour recalled. “I stayed in a coma for 10 days and when I got out of it, I realized what had happened to my leg, in addition to losing two of my fingers.”

Mansour was injured when Israel carried out approximately 30 airstrikes from 19 to 21 August, killing seven Palestinians and injuring 30 more. Palestinian fire from Gaza killed an Israeli civilian and injured six others. A Palestinian child was also killed, and six others injured, when a rocket fired from Gaza fell short of its target.

After months of treatment, Mansour was released from hospital.

“I went through a regime of physiotherapy which helped me regain my muscle flexibility, especially after the coma,” he explained. “Moreover, I had some surgeries in my leg and my head where I had sustained shrapnel.”

The two friends decided to stick together as they faced their new reality.

“We knew that everything would be easier as long as we’re together,” Mansour said. “I do almost everything with Adli.”

Adli said: “Luckily, we have the same foot size and the same taste in shoes. When we buy a pair of shoes, I take the right shoe and Mansour takes the left one. We also split the cost.

“Furthermore, we drive a motorcycle together to go to the market, to the gym, or even to the corniche.”

Their burdens remain, though their friendship makes them more bearable.

“It took us some months to believe that we could live a normal life again,” Adli explained. “I tried to go back to my previous job as a clothes salesman, but I couldn’t stand in the shop for long hours. I’ve been looking for another job.”

The Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank pays a monthly stipend to Palestinians seriously injured by Israel. But, according to Adli, “It’s not enough, especially because I’m responsible for my family.”

For Mansour, who is no longer able to work as a car electrician, providing employment opportunities for people with disabilities is a national and humanitarian duty.

“No one will hire us, even if the job is in the scope of our abilities. We won’t surrender to our disability. In fact, all we want is to participate positively in society.”

The friends have not been able to acquire artificial limbs. Prosthetics are in high demand in Gaza, and the waiting list for fittings is long, due to repeated Israeli attacks on the territory.

“We wait for an opportunity to travel to Egypt in order to get fitted for artificial limbs, despite their high prices,” Mansour said.

But there are new joys the friends are able to share, alongside the new challenges.

At his parents’ insistence, Mansour married, and in August, he and his wife’s first child arrived.

“My beautiful daughter, Zeina, is the most amazing thing that ever happened for me. I get up every morning to see her smile and to pray for her to have a better tomorrow,” he said.

Adli, who also married recently and whose wife is expecting their firstborn, looks forward to the future, without forgetting the past.

“Five years ago, I was declared dead in the morgue. Today, I have a family and dreams to achieve. I would never be here without having Mansour beside me.”

Text by Mousa Tawfiq, a journalist based in Gaza and photos by Mohammed Asad, a photojournalist based in Gaza.

Dozens killed in Nigeria as jet mistakenly bombs displaced families' camp

MSF staff report at least 50 dead in airstrike on camp in Borno state where families displaced by Boko Haram were sheltering

 People stand next to site of bombing in Rann, northeast Nigeria, on Tuesday. Photograph: HANDOUT/AFP/Getty Images

Ben Quinn and Emmanuel Akinwotu in Abuja-Tuesday 17 January 2017

Dozens of people have been killed after a Nigerian military jet mistakenly bombed a camp where thousands of families displaced during the offensive against Boko Haram militants were sheltering.

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said its staff on the ground had seen at least 100 wounded and 50 dead following the bombing, while Nigerian state officials put the death toll higher. The strikes hit what was described as a densely populated settlement in Borno state, northern Nigeria, where a campaign against the jihadist group is being waged.

At least two blasts are believed to have hit the site in Rann, near Nigeria’s border with Cameroon, which was under the control of the Nigerian military. More than 25,000 internally displaced people were sheltering at the camp, and they, as well as aid workers and Nigerian troops, were believed to be among the dead and wounded.

Maj Gen Lucky Irabor, a commander of the Nigerian military’s counterinsurgency operations in northeast Nigeria, told the Associated Press he had ordered the mission based on information that Boko Haram insurgents were gathering, along with geographic coordinates. It was too early to say if a tactical error had been made, he said, promising that an investigation would take place.

Hugues Robert, MSF’s head of emergencies, said staff were working to evacuate the wounded. “We have been aware of the potential risks our teams are facing in Borno state and have been extremely cautious about how we move and where we go,” he said.

“We [are] speaking here about an area that is controlled by the army fully. The whole camp is controlled by the army and no one can come in or out without being checked, so that’s a shock, as well as the fact that this was a very densely populated place that was full of civilians who already lived there and internally displaced persons who had come there.”

The tragedy is the latest to shake a region of Nigeria that the head of the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) last week said continued to be gripped by crisis.

Addressing the UN security council, Stephen O’Brien said the crisis in the Lake Chad basin area – affecting Nigeria and parts of Cameroon, Chad and Niger – had grown in the past six months.

Nine million people had been in need of humanitarian assistance when he briefed the body in July, but the figure was now 10.7 million, including 8.5 million people in northeast Nigeria and 1.6 million in the north of Cameroon.

The acute need for aid assistance remained clear, Robert said, adding: “Rann was one place where the situation had been extremely bad for many months and we had been trying to gain access. When you see the levels of malnutrition and mortality in these place we have a duty to help.”

A spokesperson for the International Red Cross said: “We are deeply concerned about reported casualties among civilians and humanitarian workers in today’s airstrikes on Rann, north-east Nigeria. We are in contact with the relevant authorities to organise medical assistance and evacuations, and also to get more information on the situation in Rann.”

The Nigerian Red Cross said that six of its workers, who had been helping to bring desperately needed food to the site, were among the dead. UN helicopters were being sent to the location to help with evacuations of the wounded.

While the Nigerian military had been claiming that the war against Boko Haram was all but over, the continued threat was underlined on Monday by a twin suicide bombing at a university in the city of Maiduguri.

A video purporting to feature audio of the group’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, emerged this week following the bombing in which a professor and a child were reportedly killed.

The group has stepped up attacks in the past few weeks as the end of the rainy season facilitates movements in the bush.

Aid agencies have said many more people could die in addition to the more than 20,000 killed in the seven-year Islamic uprising that has driven 2.6 million people from their homes and, in some cases, across Nigeria’s borders.

Some of the nearly 300 Chibok schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram in 2014 and freed last year have said three of their classmates were killed by air force bombardments, according to the freed girls’ parents.

Samantha Power Scolds Trump for Embracing Russia as it ‘Tears Down’ World Order

BY ROBBIE GRAMER-JANUARY 17, 2017

Outgoing U.N. Ambassador Samantha Power slammed President-elect Donald Trump, Russia, and the burgeoning threat of “authoritarianism and nihilism” in a an unusual 11th hour speech just days before Trump takes office.

Without explicitly naming Trump, Power scolded the incoming president for not taking a harder line on Moscow, especially after he was briefed on the scope of apparent Russian meddling during the recent election. Trump repeatedly denigrated U.S. intelligence findings pointing the finger at Russia for election-season hacks meant to boost his chances of winning.

“Allowing politics to get in the way of determining the full extent of Russia’s meddling…would undermine our core national security interests,” Power said in a speech Tuesday at the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based think tank. “What is not healthy is for a party or its leaders to cast doubt on a unanimous, well-documented assessment of our intelligence community that a foreign government is seeking to harm our country,” she added.

She underscored how Russian meddling in the election, including the hacking of Democratic emails and their release through Wikileaks, made true some of George Washington’s warnings about the “baneful influence” of foreign interests in U.S. politics.

“It’s not about the leader we chose – it’s about who gets to choose that leader, Power said. “That privilege should belong only to Americans,” she added.

While Russian intervention around the world — from paramilitaries in Ukraine to strike fighters over Syria to email hacks in the United States — seem unrelated to each other, Power identified a common thread: “What Russia is against.” Russia took “one aggressive and destabilizing action after another” in recent years, she said, recounting its illegal annexation of Crimea, war in Ukraine, and “atrocities” in the Syrian civil war to shore up Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

Moscow, she said, is not trying to shape a new global order, but rather “tearing down the one that exists.”
“This is what we are fighting against,” Power said. “Having defeated the forces of fascism and communism, we now confront the forces of authoritarianism and nihilism.”

Power also cautioned the incoming Trump administration about seeking too eagerly another “reset” with Russia. Trump and some of his closest advisers want a much closer relationship with Moscow, ostensibly to fight terrorism, and the president-elect has floated the idea of scrapping U.S. economic sanctions as a sweetener.

“Easing punitive measures on the Russian Government when they haven’t changed their behavior will only embolden Russia,“ she said. President Barack Obama attempted a reset with Russia at the beginning of his term, but secured only limited gains before bilateral ties became frosty. Now, with Russia actively seeking to dynamite the existing order in Europe, the Middle East, and the United States, is not the time for olive branches, Power said. “2017 is not 2009.”

But she noted, with alarm, that fond feelings for Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin, aren’t just confined to Trump and his inner circle. According to a recent poll conducted by YouGov and the Economist, 37 percent of Republicans view Putin favorably, up from just 10 percent in 2014.

“That is an alarmingly high proportion for a leader that has had journalists, human rights activists, and opposition politicians murdered,” Powers said. She warned Russia would continue to exploit fissures in the United States’ highly partisan political landscape. “We cannot let Russia divide us,” she said.

Photo credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Just when you thought the Trump ethics disaster couldn’t get worse, it did

 The head of the Office of Government Ethics issued a stern and unusually public rebuke of President-elect Donald Trump's business separation plans. Now House Republicans are summoning him to answer questions about it. (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)

By Richard Painter and Norman Eisen January 16 at 3:16 PM

Richard Painter, a professor of law at the University of Minnesota, was the chief White House ethics lawyer from 2005 to 2007 and is vice chair of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. Norman Eisen, a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution, was the chief White House ethics lawyer from 2009 to 2011 and is the chair of CREW.

For two weeks now, the majority leadership in the new Congress and the incoming Trump administration have been conducting a war on ethics. This has ranged from the effort to cripple the Office of Congressional Ethics to the Senate’s rush to confirm President-elect Donald Trump’s nominees before their financial conflicts disclosures were complete to Trump’s own inadequate plan to address his ethical problems.

These Democratic lawmakers are boycotting Donald Trump’s inauguration

The latest front involves the Office of Government Ethics and its director, Walter Shaub Jr., who has had the temerity to speak up against Trump’s plan to deal with his conflicts of interest as “meaningless.”

Both of us, former ethics counsels for Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, respectively, have worked with Shaub, a career public servant who, in our experience, provided nonpartisan and wise advice. Now, Shaub is being pilloried — and may be at risk of losing his job — for doing just that, and asserting correctly that Trump’s approach “doesn’t meet the standards . . . that every president in the last four decades has met.”

How does the Trump plan fall short? The president-elect asserted that the conflicts laws don’t apply to him but ignored the most fundamental one of all: the constitutional rule that presidents may not accept cash and other benefits — “emoluments” — from foreign governments.

[Trump is a legitimate president. But we need to know how he won.]

Trump’s lawyer then offered a porous and insufficient plan to address this problem: The Trump Organization will donate profits from foreign governments’ use of his hotels. But why only hotels? What about foreign sovereign payments to buy his condos or apartments, for use of his office buildings or his golf courses, not to mention his massive foreign government bank loans, and other benefits? And why only profits, when the Justice Department has long held that the emoluments clause covers any revenue from foreign governments — not simply profits?

For speaking up about the shortcomings of this plan, Shaub found himself in the Republican crosshairs. Rep. Jason Chaffetz (Utah), chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that has jurisdiction over the White House, demanded Shaub appear for a Star Chamber-style recorded inquisition and implicitly threatened to shut down the Office of Government Ethics if Shaub did not submit. Chaffetz ought to have been doing the exact opposite, supporting OGE and demanding documents from Trump about any financial ties to Russia or other foreign governments.

Then, just when we thought it couldn’t get worse, it did. The incoming White House chief of staff, Reince Priebus, went on national television to threaten Shaub. In a scene like something out of a gangster B-movie, Priebus warned the director that “he ought to be careful ” and gave his blessing to Chaffetz’s interrogation. Priebus’s glare of menace was unmistakable. The only thing he left out was cracking his knuckles.

Priebus went on to make assertions about Shaub that were false. For example, he claimed Shaub was “political” because he “may have . . . publicly supported Hillary Clinton,” which is simply untrue. Shaub has done no such thing. (Before becoming director, Shaub made modest political donations, as did his Republican predecessor.Indeed, both of us have also exercised this same First Amendment right.)

Priebus also attacked Shaub’s competence, and so his livelihood, questioning “what this person at Government Ethics, what sort of standing he has any more in giving these opinions.” In fact, the director is a dedicated and talented ethicist who has served Democratic and Republican presidents alike with distinction and without controversy for many years. He has already approved 54 percent of the Trump nominees who have submitted their paperwork to OGE, compared with just 29 percent at this point in the Obama transition eight years ago. If the White House chief of staff had made these kinds of threats against the head of OGE when we were serving in the White House, we would have resigned immediately.

[Trump gets no respect. That’s because he hasn’t earned it.]

We think apologies are due Shaub. In addition, we recommend that Republicans back off of their threats.

 How about Chaffetz instead publicly affirm the need for the agency and invite Shaub to have a public conversation about that and about Trump’s conflicts with both the majority and minority members of the committee? We are sure that Shaub would accept such an offer and explain to the committee and the public why his concerns about the president-elect’s plan are well founded.

Finally, and most important, Chaffetz should agree to take a hard look at that plan, including asking Trump for documents about it. That would be the best step of all in pivoting to fight for ethics, instead of against them.

FactCheck Q&A: What does Theresa May’s Brexit statement mean for the UK?

•  17 JAN 2017

What has Theresa May said?

The Prime Minister set out 12 priorities for negotiating a new relationship with the EU, after Britain narrowly voted to leave the bloc on 23 June.

The headline is that we will be pulling out the EU’s Single Market and will not remain a full member of the Customs Union either.

In other words, the UK is heading for a “hard” or “clean” Brexit scenario, rather than a Norway-style relationship, where we would have continued to enjoy substantial access to the Single Market in exchange for accepting rules like the free movement of EU citizens.

Will it hurt the economy?

That is a matter of fierce debate. Before the referendum, economists at the Treasury and at many independent institutions tried to warn about the potential long-term effects of Brexit.

Most made the assumption that a “softer” Norway-style option would be the least harmful to the economy.

Instead, Britain will now seek to negotiate a bespoke free trade deal with the EU. This could be a lengthy process, and until a deal is reached, trade could suffer.

Outside the EU, British businesses could now face tariffs (taxes which raise the price of imports), customs checks at the border and restrictions on financial services and other sectors.

A bold free trade agreement could remove some of these barriers and leave Britain free to negotiate deals with other countries, which it cannot do now as an EU member.

How have the markets reacted?

Several media outlets have reported that the value of the pound “soared” against other currencies as Mrs May made her speech.

Sterling certainly rose on Tuesday afternoon. At time of writing, the pound was on track for its biggest daily climb since October 2008. But it’s important to remember the context: the UK currency is still trading well below pre-referendum levels.

The FTSE 100 index of leading shares dipped, but that’s not surprising, and it’s not a sign of negative reaction to the Prime Minister’s words. A rising pound hits companies who report their earnings in dollars.

What if we don’t get a free trade deal?

There was a threat implicit in today’s speech. Failing to agree a mutually beneficial trade deal would be an act of “calamitous self-harm for the countries of Europe”, the Prime Minister said.

Some analysts think the UK will become the EU’s single biggest trading partner for goods after we leave – although it’s debatable who needs who the most.

“We would have the freedom to set the competitive tax rates and embrace the policies that would attract the world’s best companies and biggest investors to Britain”, Mrs May added.

In other words, if the EU tries to punish the UK in trade negotiations, it will face a big competitor on the doorstep prepared to slash business taxes to entice investment to this side of the Channel.

Is this what Britain voted for?

Different Leave campaigners said different things about what they wanted to happen after a Brexit vote.

It’s fair to say that while a few individuals were open about wanting to leave the Single Market, many were ambiguous about what they wanted, or openly said that staying in would be a good option.

The question of whether Britain would remain a member of the Single Market was not on the ballot paper on 23 June, and there was always going to be uncertainty about our future relationship with the EU.

Will we keep EU laws?

Theresa May said the existing body of EU law will be converted into British law. It will then be up to parliament to change or repeal laws on a case-by-case basis.

But the European Court of Justice will no longer have jurisdiction here. Britain might have been obliged to follow ECJ decisions if it remained in the Single Market.

What will Scotland do?

Nicola Sturgeon reacted angrily to Mrs May’s speech, warning that exiting the Single Market would be “economically catastrophic”.

The Scottish First Minister had said she wanted to remain the UK to remain in the Single Market – or see Scotland remain inside the market separately.

Ms Sturgeon said a second Scottish independence referendum is now more likely.

Opinion polls have generally showed falling support for independence since the September 2014 vote, although we don’t know if today’s news will change that.

The Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said Mrs May had tried to accommodate demands from the SNP in her speech today, including emphasising the protection of workers’ rights and the rights of EU citizens living in Britain.

What happens to the border with Ireland?

Irish Republican party Sinn Fein said leaving the EU’s Customs Union could mean the reintroduction of a hard border between the Republic of Ireland – an EU member – and Northern Ireland, which will leave the bloc along with the rest of the UK.

But Mrs May specifically said she does not want to see that happen and will make it a negotiating priority to try to maintain the open-border Common Travel Area between the Republic and Northern Ireland.

Is there a chance all this won’t happen?

The Prime Minister said that the final UK/EU deal will have to be approved by a vote in both Houses of Parliament.

There was some suggestion today that currency market enthusiasm for Mrs May’s speech was a reaction to this point – suggesting optimism that parliament could somehow scupper the Brexit process. But it’s impossible to say for sure what the markets are thinking.

The Brexit secretary, David Davis, later said that the process of EU withdrawal will still go ahead even if MPs vote against the deal.

Legal wrangling over Brexit continues, with the Supreme Court yet to give a ruling on whether the government or parliament has the final say in triggering Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty – the starting gun for the two-year withdrawal period.

The government appealed after High Court judges said the power rested with parliament.

In a separate application for a judicial review, four anonymous claimants are now arguing that parliamentary approval is also needed to leave the European Economic Area as well as the EU.

It remains to be seen whether MPs would vote against the referendum result if they were given the power to ratify it.