The indictment alleges that Comey obstructed a congressional investigation into the disclosure of sensitive information in violation of 18 USC 1505.
The indictment also alleges Comey made a false statement when he stated he did not authorize someone at the FBI to be an anonymous source. According to the indictment, that statement was false.
The charges follow Trump‘s ousting of the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Erik Siebert, who according to sources had expressed doubts internally about bringing cases against Comey, as well as New York Attorney General Letitia James, after Trump appointed him to lead the office.
Trump then immediately moved to install Lindsey Halligan, a White House aide and his former defense attorney, to lead the office, despite her having no prior prosecutorial experience.
(July 15, 2025)
AFRICOM confirmed to Antiwar.com in an email that the latest attack marked the 51st US airstrike in Somalia of the year, putting the Trump administration on track to easily break the annual record, which President Trump set at 63 in 2019.
(February 9, 2020)
South Africa‘s Bantustans were designed to weaken and fragment the black population. Under Trump‘s plan, Palestine could face a similar fate.
(November 2023)
The Wall Street Journal reported in September that Netanyahu directed Israeli officials to work with the United States on an agreement that includes Saudi enrichment, but such a deal still would face criticism in Israel. (…)
Given Saudi Arabia’s public threats to develop nuclear weapons, it may be challenging for the Biden administration to gain support for any agreement that allows uranium enrichment, particularly if the kingdom does not have an additional protocol to its comprehensive safeguards agreement in place. Additional protocols to safeguards agreements were developed in the 1990s when it became clear from the cases of Iraq and North Korea that a comprehensive safeguard agreement alone was insufficient to prevent proliferation. An additional protocol gives the IAEA more access and information about a country’s nuclear activities.
On Monday, the White House announced Brian Driscoll as acting director of the FBI. Driscoll’s time as acting director will presumably end when Kashyap „Kash“ Patel is confirmed as the FBI’s next director by the U.S. Senate.
Throughout former President Biden‘s term, the FBI was entangled in repeated scandals, prompting President Trump to promise to root out corruption in the FBI and the Department of Justice (DOJ).
(March/April 2006)
Since the start of the war on terror, the Bush administration has singlemindedly advanced the view that, in time of war, the president is the law, and no statute, no constitutional barrier, no coordinate branch of the U.S. government can stand in the president’s way when, by his lights, he is acting to preserve national security. Bush administration officials have argued
– that the president has the inherent constitutional authority to designate American citizens suspected of terrorist activity as “enemy combatants,” strip them of any constitutional protection, and hold them for the duration of the war on terror;
– that the president has the power to ignore validly enacted statutes prohibiting war crimes if he believes those statutes impede his prosecution of the war on terror; and
– that the president has the power to launch invasions of other countries at his discretion, without so much as a by-yourleave to Congress.
In a 1977 interview with David Frost, Richard Nixon described his view of the president’s national security authority: “Well, when the President does it, that means it is not illegal.” In the arguments it has advanced, both publicly and privately, for untrammeled executive power, the Bush administration comes perilously close to that view.
(January 6, 2ß25)
Riyadh has been very clear on the kind of nuclear partnership it expects, and it is no secret that its favored option is cooperation with South Korea, similar under a 123 agreement (a nuclear cooperation document that establishes the legal basis and prerequisites for nuclear deals with the United States) allowing it to enrich uranium domestically. The problem, however, lies in the last bit of the sentence. The United States currently insists on an agreement that requires the Saudis forgo enrichment and reprocessing capabilities—two pathways to building a bomb. The reelection of Trump might be the Saudis’ chance to tip the balance in their favor.
(January 3, 2025)
President Joe Biden has less than a month in office, but that might be enough time to leave a very big mess on President-elect Donald Trump‘s desk. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan presented Biden with plans to bomb Iranian nuclear sites before the end of his term „in a meeting several weeks ago,“ Axios reported on Thursday. A source told Axios that Biden‘s inner circle believes that he has both „an imperative and an opportunity to strike“ now.
During the presidency of Barack Obama, the United States began providing Saudi Arabia with critical support to „sustain“ the Saudi Arabian–led intervention in the Yemeni Civil War,[1] later expanded during the presidency of Donald Trump.[2] This support included logistical and intelligence aid. Trump vetoed a bipartisan bill in 2019 aimed at stopping U.S. support for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen. In 2021, Joe Biden vowed to halt U.S. support for the war, though U.S. arms sales to the coalition have continued.[3][4]
From 2015 to 2019, Saudi Arabia was reportedly the largest importer of U.S. arms.[2]
(15. April 2018)
Der nun erfolgte erneute Luftangriff gegen Syrien repräsentiert die Wiederholung einer Seifenoper aus dem letzten Jahr (11.04.2017, Wag the Russki). Drehbuch wie folgt:
– U.S. Präsident Donald Trump äußert in etwa “es hat nach Hunderttausenden von Toten keinen Sinn mehr die Invasion in Syrien mit terroristischen Proxy-Truppen und regulären eigenen Einheiten weiter fortzusetzen”,
– im Gebiet der terroristischen Proxies und Invasoren bei Ghouta ereignet sich ein fiktiver oder tatsächlicher Einsatz von Chemiewaffen,
– Trump dreht sich um 180 Grad und kündigt einen Militärschlag auf Syrien an,
– dieser erfolgt, mit Ankündigung und laut der französischen Verteidigungsministerin und einem anonymen Politiker über “Reuters” abermals mit Vorwarnung durch die Westmächte,
– die russische Flugabwehr tut nichts, gibt auch noch damit an und die syrische, die genau wie die russischen Militärs noch jedem Massaker gegen die eigenen und verbündeten Truppen aus Irak, Iran und Libanon zugesehen hat wie die Karnickel auf der Fahrbahn, behauptet dies und das.
Einer der wenigen Unterschiede zum letzten Jahr ist, dass sich neben Donald Trump mit Emmanuel Macron und Theresa May nun zwei weitere in ihrem Land hoch umstrittene Staatsleiter vor die Presse stellen und sagen können, sehet her, das haben sie nun davon, diese Russkis. Und Putin, der arme Putin, zitiert das Völkerrecht.
Dass die russische Staatsführung nie beabsichtigt hat Syrien gegen Luftangriffe zu verteidigen, sagte sie schon im letzten Jahr. Dass der russische Präsident jetzt von einer Verletzung der Souveränität Syriens redet, spricht Bände über dessen auch im Humor zum Ausdruck kommenden Grausamkeit. Der ganze Luftraum Syriens quillt über von irgendwelchen Kampfjets von Vancouver bis Wladivostok, seit Jahren. Noch einmal – hätte die Russische Föderation vor Beginn der Syrien-Invasion oder vor Beginn der Libyen-Invasion den dortigen Regimen eine Garantieerklärung gegeben, wie sie China letzten Sommer unter viel Gewimmer und Gebrumm endlich gegenüber Nordkorea abgab, wären Hunderttausende Menschen heute noch am Leben.
We will now restore the Rule of Law for all Americans. Under the leadership of Christopher Wray, the FBI illegally raided my home, without cause, worked diligently on illegally impeaching and indicting me, and has done everything else to interfere with the success and future of America. They have used their vast powers to threaten and destroy many innocent Americans, some of which will never be able to recover from what has been done to them.
Wray will leave before the end of the 10-year term that Trump himself appointed him to in 2017.
(December 2, 2024)
US officials have not been shy in the past about their preference for HTS and its leader, Abu Mohammad al-Julani, over other factions in Syria. James Jeffrey, an American diplomat who served as a special envoy to Syria under the Trump administration from 2018-2020, said in a 2021 interview that HTS was “an asset” to the US’s strategy in Idlib, a northwestern Syrian province that’s been under HTS control since 2017.
(15. April 2018)
Der nun erfolgte erneute Luftangriff gegen Syrien repräsentiert die Wiederholung einer Seifenoper aus dem letzten Jahr (11.04.2017, Wag the Russki). Drehbuch wie folgt:
– U.S. Präsident Donald Trump äußert in etwa “es hat nach Hunderttausenden von Toten keinen Sinn mehr die Invasion in Syrien mit terroristischen Proxy-Truppen und regulären eigenen Einheiten weiter fortzusetzen”,
– im Gebiet der terroristischen Proxies und Invasoren bei Ghouta ereignet sich ein fiktiver oder tatsächlicher Einsatz von Chemiewaffen,
– Trump dreht sich um 180 Grad und kündigt einen Militärschlag auf Syrien an,
– dieser erfolgt, mit Ankündigung und laut der französischen Verteidigungsministerin und einem anonymen Politiker über “Reuters” abermals mit Vorwarnung durch die Westmächte,
– die russische Flugabwehr tut nichts, gibt auch noch damit an und die syrische, die genau wie die russischen Militärs noch jedem Massaker gegen die eigenen und verbündeten Truppen aus Irak, Iran und Libanon zugesehen hat wie die Karnickel auf der Fahrbahn, behauptet dies und das.
Einer der wenigen Unterschiede zum letzten Jahr ist, dass sich neben Donald Trump mit Emmanuel Macron und Theresa May nun zwei weitere in ihrem Land hoch umstrittene Staatsleiter vor die Presse stellen und sagen können, sehet her, das haben sie nun davon, diese Russkis. Und Putin, der arme Putin, zitiert das Völkerrecht.
Dass die russische Staatsführung nie beabsichtigt hat Syrien gegen Luftangriffe zu verteidigen, sagte sie schon im letzten Jahr. Dass der russische Präsident jetzt von einer Verletzung der Souveränität Syriens redet, spricht Bände über dessen auch im Humor zum Ausdruck kommenden Grausamkeit. Der ganze Luftraum Syriens quillt über von irgendwelchen Kampfjets von Vancouver bis Wladivostok, seit Jahren. Noch einmal – hätte die Russische Föderation vor Beginn der Syrien-Invasion oder vor Beginn der Libyen-Invasion den dortigen Regimen eine Garantieerklärung gegeben, wie sie China letzten Sommer unter viel Gewimmer und Gebrumm endlich gegenüber Nordkorea abgab, wären Hunderttausende Menschen heute noch am Leben.
(November 30, 2024)
Russia appears to be „letting the Syrian rebels overthrow“ President Bashar al-Assad according to Richard Grenell, who served as acting director of National Intelligence for a time during Donald Trump‘s first administration.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Grenell, who had been tipped as a possible member of Trump‘s incoming administration, commented: „Russia seems to be letting the Syrian rebels overthrow Assad. Big. Time to play chess.“
„No one anticipated that Joe Biden would ESCALATE the war in Ukraine during the transition period. This is as if he is launching a whole new war,“ Ric Grenell, Trump’s former acting director of national intelligence, wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
„Everything has changed now – all previous calculations are null and void. And all for politics.“
„The Military Industrial Complex seems to want to make sure they get World War 3 going before my father has a chance to create peace and save lives. Gotta lock in those $Trillions. Life be damned!!! Imbeciles!“ Donald Trump Jr., the president-elect’s son, wrote on X.
(September 27, 2024)
The day is dark, the forces arrayed are tenacious, but as the late Nation editorial board member Toni Morrison wrote “No! This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.”
I urge you to stand with The Nation and donate today.
Onwards,
Katrina vanden Heuvel
Editorial Director and Publisher, The Nation
In 2015, Iran proved the peaceful nature of its nuclear program to the world by signing the multilateral nuclear agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — with six world powers.
However, Washington’s unilateral withdrawal in 2018 and its subsequent re-imposition of sanctions against Tehran left the future of the deal in limbo.
In 2019, Iran started to roll back the limits it had accepted under the JCPOA after the other parties failed to live up to their commitments.
(November 13, 2024)
„Trump ended up with some neocons around him who were trying to undermine his objectives so they could feed their goals of continuing to keep us in a perpetual state of war,“ Gabbard said, discussing his first administration. „This administration has us facing multiple wars on multiple fronts and regions around the world and closer to the brink of nuclear war than we ever have been before,“ Gabbard said when she endorsed Trump during a campaign event in Michigan.
„This is one of the main reasons why I‘m committed to doing all that I can to send President Trump back to the White House, where he can, once again, serve us as our commander in chief.“
(November 11, 2024)
The U.S. military said on Monday it had carried out strikes against nine targets associated with Iranian groups in Syria.
(…)
The U.S. has 900 troops in Syria, and 2,500 more in neighboring Iraq, on a mission to advise and assist local forces trying to prevent a resurgence of Islamic State, which in 2014 seized large swathes of both countries but was later defeated.
(January 5, 2024)
In 1988, the Central Intelligence Agency did discover that Riyadh bought SS-2 medium-range missiles from China but only after the deal was sealed. In 2003, when China exported DF-21 ballistic missiles to the Kingdom, the CIA again found out and was even allowed to verify the missiles were not nuclear-capable, but only after the missiles were delivered.
Several years later, when intelligence finally leaked out that China secretly built missile factories for the Saudis, the Trump administration was mum on whether there was an intelligence failure and allowed speculation that it had blessed the transaction. Then, in 2020, when US intelligence confirmed China was helping the Kingdom mill uranium domestically, it did so, again only after the mining and milling were well underway.
This track record of studied inadvertence, then, brings us to the next worry: MBS wants Washington to green-light the Kingdom enriching uranium…
(March 27, 2019)
Many U.S. lawmakers are concerned that sharing nuclear technology with Saudi Arabia could eventually lead to a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. (…)
Last month, Democratic House members alleged in a report that top White House aides ignored warnings they could be breaking the law as they worked with former U.S. officials in a group called IP3 International to advance a multibillion-dollar plan to build nuclear reactors in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia.
In one case, McMaster recalls sidelining Netanyahu about his close relationship with Putin at the Munich Security Conference in 2018, where he voiced frustration at Netanyahu over his “hedging approach” to Russia.
“Prime Minister, you know that Putin is using a bait and switch – baiting you with the promise to curtail Iran’s presence and influence in Syria while actually enabling Iran’s proxies on your borders,” McMaster said he told Netanyahu, who sat next to him to confer about a speech he would give mentioning Hezbollah.
“Netanyahu smiled and said he had better return to his seat,” McMaster wrote.
(3. August 2021)
24. Juni 2019: Der damalige U.S.-Außenminister Mike Pompeo fordert eine „globale Koalition“ gegen den Iran. passenderweise vorgetragen bei einem Blitzbesuch Pompeos in Saudi-Arabien.
4. August 2019: Ich lege mich fest und prognostiziere, dass „Bundeswehr-Marine .. noch vor Weihnachten unter Oberbefehl einer ausländischen Macht in den Persischen Golf entsandt“ wird.
(…)
20. Januar 2020: Monate vor der Ausrufung des bis heute andauernden Ausnahmezustands und bereits im Windschatten von SARS II („Coronavirus“), beschließen die Staatsführungen von Frankreich, Deutschland, Griechenland, Italien, der Niederlande, Belgien, Dänemark und Portugal in einer gemeinsamen Erklärung die „European-led maritime surveillance mission in the Strait of Hormuz“ (E.M.A.S.O.H.), von der Sie und 80 Millionen Andere bis heute nie gehört haben.
Such is modern warfare. It‘s all ‚your proxy force against mine‘, and theatrical ‚force-posturing‘ because, if any real war were to break out between countries with sizable arsenals, the global economy would be wrecked.
Relevant transcript, on Iran telling the US exactly where and when they would strike the US base in northern Iraq:
„I had Iran in check. We hit them very hard [via the assassination of Soleimani], and they had to hit back, I understand that.
Do you know they called me to tell me they‘re going to hit a certain location [at al-Asad airbase], it‘s gonna be outside the perimeter.
They let us know. We had 16 missiles [targeting the base]. They said ‚don‘t move, we‘re going to have to hit you back‘.
Psychologically, they had to do that because we hit them. So they aimed those missiles [outside the base] and said ‚please don‘t attack us, we‘re not gonna hit you‘.“
And, on Israel backing out of the plot:
„When we took out Soleimani, you know, Israel was supposed to do it with us. Two days before the takeout, they said, ‚We can‘t do it, we can‘t do it.‘
I said, ‚What? We can‘t do it?‘
Then I had a certain general, who‘s great, and I said, ‚So, General, do we do it ourselves?‘
He said, ‚We can, sir, it‘s up to you.‘ I said, ‚We‘ll do it.‘
But Israel was a part of it, you know. Bibi [Netanyahu] was a big part of it. And we had everything planned, everything.“
(04.02.2024)
The former president and current presidential candidate also told Fox News the Iranian regime was in the final stretch of their controversial nuclear drive, with the connivance of Joe Biden, the sitting U.S. president and Trump‘s main political rival.
„Iran is going to have a nuclear weapon in 60 days, and Biden is allowing them to do it! Now they are a very rich country and they are taking over Iraq.“
(11.10.2023)
Trump ordered Soleimani’s assassination via a drone strike on Jan. 3, 2020, near Baghdad International Airport in Iraq. Speaking in West Palm Beach, Florida on Wednesday, Trump said Netanyahu was no help in that effort, but that afterward he tried to take credit for it:
(3. August 2021)
24. Juni 2019: Der damalige U.S.-Außenminister Mike Pompeo fordert eine „globale Koalition“ gegen den Iran. passenderweise vorgetragen bei einem Blitzbesuch Pompeos in Saudi-Arabien.
4. August 2019: Ich lege mich fest und prognostiziere, dass „Bundeswehr-Marine .. noch vor Weihnachten unter Oberbefehl einer ausländischen Macht in den Persischen Golf entsandt“ wird.
(…)
20. Januar 2020: Monate vor der Ausrufung des bis heute andauernden Ausnahmezustands und bereits im Windschatten von SARS II („Coronavirus“), beschließen die Staatsführungen von Frankreich, Deutschland, Griechenland, Italien, der Niederlande, Belgien, Dänemark und Portugal in einer gemeinsamen Erklärung die „European-led maritime surveillance mission in the Strait of Hormuz“ (E.M.A.S.O.H.), von der Sie und 80 Millionen Andere bis heute nie gehört haben.
(25.Juni 2019)
Als vor dreieinhalb Jahren Pazifisten, Sozialdemokraten und politische Linke in Deutschland der Entsendung der staatlichen Luftwaffe in die Kriege im Irak und Syrien tatenlos zusahen, warnten wir bereits vor deren moralisch-politischem Zusammenbruch und Kapitulation. Die genau zu diesem Zweck exekutierte psychologische Kriegführung gegen die Bevölkerung setzt sich bis heute praktisch ohne Widerstand politisch links stehender Kräfte fort. Die Logik des Terrorkrieges (Behauptungen von Behörden / Autoritäten darf nicht widersprochen und muss alles abgekauft werden) wird von den Betreffenden weiter willig geschluckt.
Weder hinsichtlich der Tanker-Explosionen im Golf von Oman, nach der bereits das U.S.-Imperium einen “globalen Konsens” gegen den Iran beanspruchte, noch nach dem Abschuss einer U.S.-Spionage-Drohne an der Straße von Hormuz, welcher offensichtlich nach einer absichtlichen Luftraumverletzung des Iran und mehrfachen direkten Vorwarnungen durch das iranische Militär erfolgte und in dem das U.S.-Zentralkommando – nach glaubwürdigen Angaben des iranischen Militärs, mit Details zum Flugzeugtyp (eine Boeing P8 Poseidon) und sogar zur Anzahl der Insassen – auch das Leben von 35 Militärangehörigen an Bord eines begleitenden Kampfflugzeuges gezielt und bewusst als Bauernopfer für die angestrebte Eskalation anbot, erfolgte irgendeine nennenswerte Reaktion in Deutschland; nicht aus dem angeblich oder tatsächlich pazifistischen, sozialdemokratischen oder linken Spektrum, noch aus irgendeinem zuständigen parlamentarischen Gremium.
(January 5, 2024)
In 1988, the Central Intelligence Agency did discover that Riyadh bought SS-2 medium-range missiles from China but only after the deal was sealed. In 2003, when China exported DF-21 ballistic missiles to the Kingdom, the CIA again found out and was even allowed to verify the missiles were not nuclear-capable, but only after the missiles were delivered.
Several years later, when intelligence finally leaked out that China secretly built missile factories for the Saudis, the Trump administration was mum on whether there was an intelligence failure and allowed speculation that it had blessed the transaction. Then, in 2020, when US intelligence confirmed China was helping the Kingdom mill uranium domestically, it did so, again only after the mining and milling were well underway.
This track record of studied inadvertence, then, brings us to the next worry: MBS wants Washington to green-light the Kingdom enriching uranium…
(8. Mai 2013)
Israel, Saudi-Arabien, die Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate, Jordanien und die Türkei wollen einen Militärpakt gründen. Die U.S.A. befördern die Angelegenheit, so israelische „Offizielle“.
(19 October 2023)
The United States and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) have for over a decade negotiated without success the terms of an agreement for peaceful nuclear cooperation. These negotiations have intensified recently in the context of US efforts to broker a normalisation agreement between the KSA and Israel, which have included discussions about how the US could solidify its own support for Saudi Arabia. On the 7th of October 2023, Hamas terrorists appeared to drive a stake through the heart of the US effort to broker Israel-KSA normalisation. This has sent shockwaves through the region, and the full implications remain uncertain. However, it seems likely that in the longer run, rationales for normalisation and for US nuclear engagement with Riyadh will remain, reflecting the fact that the Hamas attacks underscored that a future nuclear-armed Iran would be a yet more formidable adversary for both Israel and the KSA.