Jill Stein Defies Senate Intelligence Document Request, Calling It “Overbroad” and Unconstitutional

The Jill Stein campaign is refusing to comply fully with a Senate intelligence committee request for documents and other correspondence, made as part of the committee’s probe into Russian activities in the 2016 election, according to a letter to be delivered Thursday to the panel by an attorney for the campaign.

The Green Party campaign will agree to turn over some documents, but raised constitutional objections to the breadth of the inquiry, which was first made in November 2017, arguing that elements of it infringe on basic political rights enshrined in the First Amendment.

Jill Stein ended months of silence and speculation about her role in the ongoing investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, announcing this week that she would not be complying with a documents request put forth by the Senate intelligence committee.

The announcement, first reported by The Intercept, adds to the litany of questions about Stein’s role in Russia’s broader interference campaigns — a role that suddenly faces new relevance, given the rolling indictments from the office of Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

Russian Journalists Just Published a Bombshell Investigation About a Kremlin-Linked “Troll Factory”

A notorious Russian internet “troll factory” spent about $2.3 million during the 2016 election cycle to meddle in US politics, paying the salaries of 90 “US desk” employees who helped wage disinformation campaigns via social media that reached millions of Americans. The operation also contacted US activists directly and offered them thousands of dollars to organize protests on divisive issues, including race relations.

Comey rushed to close Clinton investigation for fear fake Russian intel would leak: Report

On Wednesday The Washington Post reported that former FBI director James Comey partially based his bizarre decision to unilaterally close the federal investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server on a dubious document that turned out to be a fake created by Russian officials. Now CNN reports that Comey knew all along that the “intel” was false — but acted on it anyway.

Is the Russia Investigation Turning the Left Into Conspiracy Theorists?

Last week, after Wednesday’s deadly rampage near Parliament in London, British conservative journalist Louise Mensch tweeted that the terrorist attack has “got everything to do with Russia.” She doubled down Friday on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, propounding the theory, without factual evidence, that allies of the Russian state were stirring up anti-immigrant sentiment in the wake of the attack. “Partisans of Russia were out in the streets saying it was an illegal immigrant who did it, trying to turn the London people against our Muslim friends and neighbor,” Mensch said. One of her fellow guests, MSNBC host Chris Hayes, looked startled by the claim, as well he might since it made little sense. After all, xenophobia in London (as elsewhere) doesn’t require “partisans of Russia.”

Harper government misled Canadians about Volkswagen investigation

The federal government misled Canadians about its investigation into Volkswagen during the fall election campaign, erroneously suggesting that it had acted swiftly on the emerging pollution cheating scandal, despite the absence of a paper trail to confirm its claims.

Internal emails from a federal vehicle testing facility showed no signs that enforcement officials had asked the top scientists at the lab to proceed with a full investigation, prior to September 2015 when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board went public with details about their own probes. There was only a flurry of emails from the research facility about an investigation after the U.S. announcement on Sept. 18.

Conservatives ask RCMP to investigate Citizenship leak to media

OTTAWA—The government is calling in the RCMP to investigate another highly sensitive leak to the media, this time at Citizenship and Immigration Canada, according to media reports.

The CBC reported late Friday afternoon that the Citizenship ministry has requested the RCMP investigate the release of “sensitive information” to journalists this week.

“Leaks such as these are unethical and are against the law,” a memo obtained by the broadcaster read. “As such, we have contacted the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who have now launched an investigation. The trust that the public, our partners and elected officials have in us is the cornerstone of our democratic functions.”

Conservative candidate Parm Gill is being investigated by the Commissioner of Elections Canada, The Huffington Post Canada has learned.

Gill, the incumbent candidate in the Ontario riding of Brampton North, is being scrutinized for accepting or charging money from unsuspecting donors without their consent.

Several sources told HuffPost that Elections Canada investigators had contacted them about donations to Gill’s office and his relationship with a man nicknamed Comrade. The sources did not want to be named because the federal investigators asked them to keep the matter confidential.

John McCain seeks congressional investigation into 'broken' NSA

John McCain, the Republican senator and former presidential candidate, has called for a congressional investigation into America’s “broken” National Security Agency, ahead of week in which the White House will announce its own reforms.

President Barack Obama will reveal a number of changes to the way the NSA and associated secret courts operate on Friday, concluding months of debate within the administration about the appropriate response to disclosures made by the whistleblower Edward Snowden.

Feds Probe Banks For Mortgage Misdeeds After Financial Crisis

Jan 8 (Reuters) - Federal regulators are probing whether several big banks deliberately mispriced mortgage bonds in the years following the financial crisis, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people close to the inquiry.

The new investigation is a potential blow to the banks as they have already paid billions of dollars in penalties and fines to various federal agencies following scrutiny of their conduct leading up to and during the market panic of 2008.

Edward Snowden revelations prompt UN investigation into surveillance

The UN's senior counter-terrorism official is to launch an investigation into the surveillance powers of American and British intelligence agencies following Edward Snowden's revelations that they are using secret programmes to store and analyse billions of emails, phone calls and text messages.

The UN special rapporteur Ben Emmerson QC said his inquiry would also seek to establish whether the British parliament had been misled about the capabilities of Britain's eavesdropping headquarters, GCHQ, and whether the current system of oversight and scrutiny was strong enough to meet United Nations standards.

FBI Is Looking Into Possible Criminal Charges Against Individuals At JPMorgan: Report

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking into the possibility of leveling criminal charges against individuals at JPMorgan Chase, an unnamed source told Bloomberg News. The FBI is working alongside the Department of Justice in its probe of the bank's energy trades, which was announced on Monday.

JPMorgan, the nation's biggest bank by assets, is also facing a criminal investigation over its actions leading up to the financial crisis. The bank is now facing at least seven ongoing investigations, according to the Wall Street Journal.

You can find Bloomberg's full report here.

JPMorgan: We're Being Investigated By DOJ Over Mortgages

JPMorgan Chase said Wednesday it's under federal criminal investigation over its sale of mortgage securities, potentially making the biggest U.S. bank by assets the first large financial institution to face criminal sanctions over securitization practices that contributed to the 2008 financial crisis.

MP Dean Del Mastro donor records seized in election probe

Records obtained from Elections Canada suggest the agency has deepened its investigation into donations to Conservative MP Dean Del Mastro.

Lists of contributors to Del Mastro's 2008 federal campaign have been seized by the commissioner of Canada Elections, the records show. If the commissioner thinks criminal charges are warranted, he can refer the case to the director of public prosecutions, who decides whether to press charges.

Court Documents Reveal Extent of Federal Investigation Into WikiLeaks

For years, lawyers representing the team at Wikileaks have been aware that federal prosecutors were conducting a lengthy investigation into the organization. The United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia finally confirmed the investigation back in March, but said only “it remains ongoing” and would not comment further.
 
Reporters sleuthed out that a number of orders had indeed been issued in what appeared to be a broad investigation into Wikileaks, but they remained under seal, and it wasn’t clear whether prosecutors were narrowly targeting founder Julian Assange or pursuing a much broader investigation—nor was it clear what kind of evidence they were collecting.

OPP launch criminal probe into deleted gas plant emails

TORONTO -- The Ontario Provincial Police launched a criminal investigation Friday into the destruction of emails about the costly cancellation of two gas plants by senior Liberal staff.

The Criminal Investigation Services will probe Tory complaints about "alleged impropriety" by former top staffers, said OPP Commissioner Chris Lewis.

Mike Duffy's Expenses Matter To Be Sent To RCMP

OTTAWA — Senate officials confirmed they have found a troubling pattern of Sen. Mike Duffy claiming Ottawa living expenses while travelling elsewhere, including several days in 2011 when he was campaigning across the country for the Conservatives.

Senators meeting at a committee late Tuesday voted to send the matter of Duffy's expenses to the RCMP, after hearing the new information. Duffy's claims had originally been scrutinized to determine where his principal residence was — the latest information introduce a whole new wrinkle into the scandal.

Ex-top Mountie fears meddling

OTTAWA -- A former RCMP superintendent says he's never seen the degree of political control over the Mounties that exists now, and says it "does not bode well" for an objective police investigation of the Senate expense scandal.

Garry Clement, a 30-year veteran of the force who spent more than half those years working in the National Capital Region, told CTV's Question Period on Sunday the thrust of the RCMP investigation will likely centre around Section 122 of the Criminal Code and breach of trust.

Former top Mountie says political control over RCMP doesn’t bode well for Senate investigation

OTTAWA — A former RCMP superintendent says he’s never seen the degree of political control over the Mounties that exists now, and says it “does not bode well” for an objective police investigation of the Senate expense scandal.

Gary Clement, a 30-year veteran of the force who spent more than half those years working in the national capital region, told CTV’s Question Period on Sunday that the thrust of the RCMP investigation will likely centre around Section 122 of the Criminal Code and breach of trust.

'Strong grounds' for criminal charges in Senate expense scandal, ex-Mountie says

A former top Mountie says the RCMP has "strong grounds" to lay criminal charges in connection with the Senate expense scandal, based on what's alleged in media reports.

Speaking on CTV’s Question Period Sunday, former RCMP superintendent Garry Clement said he believes investigators can consider laying fraud or, "more appropriately," breach of trust charges under the Criminal Code.